


Elara Potter: A Different Life

by Toranyx



Series: Elara Potter [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU to an AU, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Harry Potter has a twin AU, Slow Burn, seriously friends first here, will change as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25962757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toranyx/pseuds/Toranyx
Summary: What would happen to the Potter twins if they weren't the only ones to survive that night? What if James and Lily Potter survived to raise their twins? What would happen if Sirius Black was never taken to Azkaban, but Peter Pettigrew was instead? What would happen if the Potters met the Weasleys much sooner and formed a strong bond from the beginning?What would happen with the prophecy if they had more people object, had more people to help find what was needed to defeat Voldemort? Would the twins have a normal life? Would they not?Join the Elara Potter on this adventure through a different life, to see what all would change not just her, but her family and the relationships she forms along the way.
Relationships: Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), George Weasley/Original Female Character(s), George/Original Female Character/Fred Weasley
Series: Elara Potter [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1417264
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36





	1. How The Mighty Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Yup! You're reading this correctly. I have another AU to my Outsider AU! However, that doesn't mean I am abandoning Outsider, I promise! I just ended up with this idea when I was thinking of some other ideas and...well...
> 
> I started typing and the rest is history! 
> 
> If you're just seeing this one, please go check out my Outsider story as well! 
> 
> Buckle up and enjoy everyone! Cause I'm on this ride as much as you guys are!

Lily Potter nee Evans felt incredibly blessed, regardless of the fact that she and her family were forced into hiding. How couldn’t she, as she watched James Potter play with their two beautiful children, laughter filling her household. Of course, she did wish she could take her children out trick-or-treating, something even James and Sirius had been looking forward to ever since she had told them she was pregnant, even more so with twins. 

Alas, it would have to do for her little children to be running around the home in their costumes. Her little boy, Harry, was dressed up as a knight, while her sweet little girl was dressed as a princess. 

Which had been James’s idea from the beginning. Saying that his princess should be a princess, which had Harry jumping in to join the theme. She wondered as they got older would they always dress similarly on Halloween, as it was the only time the twins could match quite well. 

Though Lily had put her foot down when James had tried to get a bright scarlet dress. Elara had Lily’s auburn hair, and it would clash terribly, but James insisted not green, because of Slytherin colors. 

Which was absolutely absurd, but she relented and they decided on a wonderful deep blue, and it seemed Elara was enjoying the outfit. 

Yes...she was very much blessed, even though she could think of things to make this better, once of which was Voldemort being no more. But given everything she knew, she wouldn’t change a thing. 

Not when all of those moments led up to her having a wonderful husband, and two perfect children. 

But of course...all good things come to an end. 

Truthfully, Lily couldn’t remember much about the end of their Halloween night, when everything happened. Mostly just because everything was such a blur, and everything happened so fast…

She had just been putting her twins down for bed, when she heard James shout, a thud,  _ his voice  _ claiming he’d deal with the elder Potter later, and entered the room.  _ He  _ told her she would be spared if she moved. But, clearly, Voldemort was never a parent, not a mother. She refused, begged him not to touch her children, mentally cursing herself for leaving her wand in her room!

Now here is where the blurr began. She remembered begging him some more, pleading, before being thrown in to a wall, a spell hitting her, and pain...oh so much pain. She remembered a flash of green, herself screaming, when there was a brighter light and then there was darkness. 

The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake, her husband’s face being the first thing she saw, followed by Sirius Black standing by the crib, the children screaming, and everything came back. 

“My babies!” She croaked out. “My babies!” 

“They’re safe, Lil,” James said, the relief in his voice. “And Voldemort, he’s...gone, somehow,”    
  
Lily tried to scramble up, dizziness following her, and James helped her up, helping her to the crib. Sirius was trying to coax Harry to let him touch him, but the year old boy was just clinging to his sister tightly, who was also wailing away. Lily gasped as she saw the scar on her baby boy’s forehead. 

“What…” She began to ask before quickly looking at her daughter. “And Lara?”    
  
“Wrist,” Sirius said. “I saw a quick glance at; same shape. No idea how they got it,”    
  
“We can figure that out later,” James said quickly. “Right now we need to get to Dumbledore, get somewhere safe. Words going to get out soon that something happened to Voldemort, and that he failed to kill us. His Death Eaters might try and find us. Our house isn’t safe anymore,”    
  
“But...Peter,” Lily said, looking at her husband and best friend. 

“Later,” James told his wife, gently squeezing her hand. “Sirius, go in our closet, there’s a suitcase on the floor, grab it. Lil, I’ll grab the diaper bags, you get the babies somewhat calmed down,”    
  
“Constant vigilance!” Sirius called out in an effort for a weak joke, turning and leaving the nursery. 

Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Truthfully, they hadn’t thought about packing any emergency bags until Moody came barging in one day and started packing for them, shouting “Always be prepared!” 

Sirius had found it funny, though he did point out it was a bit of a mouthful before Moody flung a pillow at him screaming. “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” 

Needless to say, some people weren’t thrilled at the catchphrase that kept being shouted so often. 

Still. Moody had been right. As usual. 

Lily reached forward with her hands, gently rubbing her baby's arms softly, shushing them softly. She doubted they would get truly calmed down any time soon, but at least they’d know their mum was there. 

James grabbed the diaper bags, making his way over, cooing at his children softly as he reached for his wailing daughter, lifting her up and setting her on his hip, gently rubbing her back before looking at his wife.

“Still dizzy?” He asked softly. 

“A little,” Lily answered. Truthfully, her bones and muscles were still aching with the spell that had been cast on her. “As long as we don’t travel by Floo right now, I should be okay...but James, where are we going to go?” 

“We have a few safe houses we can go to,” James said. “We can stay at one of them until we hear from Dumbledore. Plus, I’d like for you to get some rest, maybe take a potion to help you feel better,” 

“Okay...so which one first?” Lily asked, reaching for Harry, mimicking the motions that James had done for Elara. 

“The Burrow,” James said.

“Absolutely not!” Lily exclaimed. “Molly has six children, and one on the way. We can’t risk them like that!” 

“Lils, it wouldn’t be long,” James soothed. “We’ll be there two hours tops, maybe three, and that should be enough time before everyone finds out what’s going on, and by then, we’ll be gone to another. They wouldn’t have volunteered their home if they didn’t want to. And you know Molly is well aware of the risks, especially what happened to her twin brothers,”    
  
“James…”    
  
“Lil, right now, their home is remote for miles. Their closest neighbors, The Lovegoods, and the Diggroy’s are a great stone throws away, no one is going to see us. That’s what we need right now. Look, I promise, if anything seems off or suspicious, or there is even a hint of danger, we’ll leave,” James promised her, looking at her seriously. 

Lily looked up at her husband before sighing, nodding, and she rested her head on his shoulder for a brief moment before righting herself. “We better go then,” She said. 

James nodded, heading in to the living area, where Sirius was waiting for them. “Where are we heading?” Sirius asked. 

“The Burrow,” James answered. “Just for a few hours, but I need you to go and grab Moony and meet us there,” 

Sirius nodded, handing Lily the suitcase. “Be careful,” 

“We will,” Lily said with a nod. “You stay safe, too, Padfoot,” 

With a small pop, the tiny family was gone. 

  
  
  


Molly Weasley was so stranger to loud noises. It pretty much came with the territory when you have six children, one on the way, and a husband who enjoyed tinkering with Muggle things. Not to mention when you had twins that were dead set on causing as much mayhem as possible…

That being said, considering they were at war, she had learned quite quickly to tell the difference between loud noises. Urgent, bad news, or just general nonsense. 

The banging on her front door was urgent, causing both her and Arthur to sit up in bed, quickly...well, her husband quickly slid on his dressing gown. She was heavily pregnant, so more waddled after her husband after pulling her own dressing gown on. As they quickly walked, most of her children opened the doors to their room, peeking out curiously. Thank Merlin Ron was a heavy sleeper.

“Mum…?” Her oldest, Bill, asked hesitantly. 

“Go back to bed, all of you,” Molly commanded. “It’s probably just an important message,” 

Not waiting to see if her children did as she said, they made it downstairs where they could hear screaming children outside the door. 

“Who is it?” Arthur demanded to know. One could never be too careful, and using children as a ploy wouldn’t surprise him. 

“James, and Lily Potter with their kids,” James answered. 

Arthur frowned and Molly whispered to him. 

“I thought they went into hiding!” This could mean a great deal of things, and more bad came to her mind than good. 

“What did you and Sirius prank me with in my sixth year? And Lily, what did you give me for my birthday before you went into hiding?” Arthur demanded.

“We gifted you some of those Muggle chattering teeth things and enchanted them to chase you around, trying to bite your ankles,” James answered. 

“A toaster,” Lily answered. 

Arthur opened the door, taking in the sight of the family, quickly ushering them inside, though Harry and Elara kept crying. 

“What’s happened?” Arthur asked before wincing as Ron started crying loudly. “I’ll get him,” He quickly went up the stairs, and the group heard. “Your mother said go back to bed! Go!” 

“We’re so sorry,” Lily said. “We won’t be here long, a few hours at most,” 

“It’s okay,” Molly said soothingly. “Dumbledore put some small wards around the house. We’ll know instantly if someone who isn’t on the list shows up. Come, sit, sit, let’s see about getting these little ones to settle,” 

Lily smiled at Molly. She had always liked the plucky, generous witch. She set her suitcase down, walking over to the sofa, sitting down, and went back to rocking Harry back and forth, making comforting, soothing, noises, as James did the same. Slowly, the Potter twins began to settle, and Arthur came back downstairs, just as James sent his Patronus to send Dumbledore an update. 

“Ron just needed a quick changing,” He said. “His music box is on, and he started dozing off as I changed him. What’s happened? I thought you four were in hiding,”

“Hang on,” James said softly. “Sirius and Remus are meeting us here, they shouldn’t be too much longer,” 

Sure enough, a few minutes passed and another knock was heard on the door, and Arthur went over to it, repeating the actions he had done with the Potters, opening the door once Remus and Sirius proved it was really them. 

“Thank goodness, you’re okay,” Remus sighed in relief. “What’s going on, though? Sirius won’t tell me anything except that you four were okay after an attack,” 

Molly’s eyes narrowed as she heard a soft creak, holding up her hand. She stood up, waddling away from the group and to the staircase. “I said you boys better go to your rooms and stay there, or you’ll all be in time out, and have your toys taken away, especially your toy brooms!” 

Quickly, soft thuds were heard as doors closed, and Molly sighed, waddling back. “Thank Merlin this one is a girl,” 

Once she sat down, the Potter’s informed the others what had happened, causing Arthur and Molly to gasp. 

“He’s...gone? He’s really dead?” Arthur asked. This was amazing news...finally...things could settle…

“Don’t know,” James said with a shake of his head. “Seems it. I’m more worried about Peter...he was our Secret Keeper…” 

“They...had to have tortured it out of him,” Remus said, though there was a lace of doubt in his voice. “Truth serum…you know he hated pain,” 

“It’s impossible,” Lily said softly. “Neither Imperious, Truth serum, or even torture could make a Secret Keeper talk if they were set on keeping it secret. That’s how the spell works. They have to willingly, voluntarily, give up the information,”

“I can’t-” Sirius started to roar but was shushed by the rest of the adults in the room. “I can’t believe him! He betrayed  _ us! He betrayed you!  _ That’s it! I’m going to find that rat bastard and kill him!”

“You will do no such thing, Sirius Black!” Lily hissed out, her eyes flashing dangerously. “That’ll get you landed in to Azkaban, and you’ll be playing in to his hand. No, we’ll get our own justice. Only a small handful of people knew where we were, and knew who the Secret Keeper really was,” 

“And if he was working for Voldemort...we’ll know that too, and he’ll be locked away,” James said. Really, he was furious with Peter, knowing what the did, even though part of him was still in denial. But the proof was there…

“I just...can’t believe it, Peter, of all people,” Remus said with a shake of his head and a sigh. It was true that their smallest friend of the group tended to find his courage once he was with them, but he never dreamed of Peter betraying James and Lily…

“Well, believe it,” Sirius scowled. “I’m just so pissed at myself. This never would’ve happened if I had been the Secret Keeper...I should’ve said yes instead of insisting on Peter,” 

“I think,” Molly said softly. “That you should just be thankful everyone here is alive and well, considering the alternative,” 

The group was silent, save for the small noises the Potter twins made, and finally James spoke. “Yes,” He said softly. “Things could’ve been much...much worse,” 

The group fell silent once more, for several minutes, before Molly spoke. “I’m going to make some tea,” She said firmly, and began to waddle towards the kitchen.

“Molly, would you like some help?” Lily offered.

“No, no,” Molly said firmly. “Your babies need you, stay there,” 

“At least let me help carry everything, Molly,” Remus said as he stood up, following Molly in to the kitchen. 

Time passed for the adults in silence, the twins finally falling asleep, and only the small clinking of tea cups were heard once Molly and Remus brought them in. Lily made sure to keep an eye on the time, and soon, two and a half hours passed. They would need to leave soon. 

What finally broke the silence was a soft knock on the door, and Arthur went to the door, asking once more who it was.

“Albus Dumbledore,” 

Arthur froze for a moment before steeling himself, asking a question only he could know, waiting for the correct answer. It was received and Arthur quickly opened the door, allowing him in. 

“What happened?” The Headmaster asked, and the family told their tale once more, Sirius jumping in when it was his turn.    
  
“I see…” Dumbledore said softly.

“Is he…?” Arthur asked softly.

“Gone? Yes,” Dumbledore said with a nod. “For good? No, I do not think so…”   
  
“What? How?” Sirius demanded. 

“I have some theories…” Dumbledore said. “I am still searching, but as soon as I have the answers, I’ll let the Order know,” 

“But what about Harry and Elara?” Lily asked. “How is this even possible?” 

“Ah...that, too, is something I think I must ponder on,” Dumbledore said. “Though I think it may have to do with a magic so powerful, so old, that one weilds yet doesn’t know how to control it, nor should they, really,” 

“And that’s?” James asked.

“Love,” Dumbledore said simply, his eyes sparkling. “Now...I believe the news is spreading about Voldemort, as we speak. However, I do feel it will be safer for your family, James, Lily, if you remained in hiding for a while longer, until we can capture most of the Death Eaters and until things settle down,” 

“Agreed,” James said with a firm nod. 

“Then we should go,” Dumbledore said looking to the heads of the Weasley family. “Thank you for housing them,”    
  
“It was a pleasure,” Molly said with a nod. “Now go, so you and your family can be safe,”    
  
“Still, thank you so much, Molly,” Lily said to her with a smile, a mother to a mother. 

“Just take care yourselves and your little ones,” Molly told her with a smile. “Though...once things settle, would you mind bringing the twins so we could have a playdate? My twins are close in age, Ron is the same age, and little Ginny here will only be a year behind,” 

“I’d love that,” Lily told the woman with a smile. “We’ll make it happen as soon as possible,” 

Lily couldn’t help but feel certain, as they said their goodbyes and gathered their things, that they had just made some more family friends. She had always known the Weasley’s of course, but now…

She just knew they would be family to them, and they would feel the same


	2. Meeting the Families

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, guys! Lots of things going on at work, again, and some other stuff going on in real life. Hope you guys enjoy! Comments and kudos are always welcome!
> 
> Also, please forgive me for any errors. I don't really have a beta xD

“Mum!” Whined Fred, his hands going through his hair. He was used to being able to just comb and go, but his mummy kept trying to make it flat and neat. 

“I just want you to look presentable, Fred!” Molly reasoned before turning to the boy’s twin. “Now, come here, George, your shirt is untucked…” 

“Mum, I get why you want Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny to go to a playdate…” Bill, Molly’s oldest at fifteen said. “But…” 

“No, no,” Molly said as she turned her attention towards her youngest son, Ron, and sighed as she spotted more dirt on his nose. “Honestly, Ron, how do you always end up with dirt on your nose?” She reached for a handkerchief, ignoring her wiggling son as she wiped it away. “I’m sorry, what were you saying, Bill?” 

“Why are me, Charlie, Percy going?” Bill asked. It wasn’t like he minded meeting new people, but he hadn’t heard anything about this family besides it was a playdate, and that made him think it was for his little siblings. 

“Yeah, mum, you said I could go and visit my friend Will,” Charlie said with a small frown. 

“And I wanted to finish my book today,” Percy said with a sigh, trying to act more mature than his actual age. “I want to be prepared when I go to Hogwarts,” 

“You have two more years for that, Percy,” Arthur said as he entered the room. “Plenty of time,” 

“The sooner, the better,” the third youngest Weasley said. “I plan on getting a job in the Ministry,” 

“Just like your father!” Molly beamed. 

“Yes!” Percy said with a proud smile, revealing a missing tooth.

“Mummy, stop!” Ron whined, slapping her hand away. 

“Mum, can you tell us where we are going?” George asked. “You’ve never said,” 

Molly sighed, placing her handkerchief on the counter. “We’re going to visit the Potter’s. We’ve been wanting this playdate, and to introduce you all to their own children for quite a while. It just wasn’t safe to do so,” 

“The Potters?” Bill said with a blink. “You mean...we’re going to visit the kids that defeated You-Know-Who?” 

“The Kids Who Lived?” Charlie asked.

“The very ones,” Arthur said with a nod. 

“Wow!” The twins exclaimed. 

“Now you listen here,” Molly said sternly. “You will not be asking any of them what happened that night. You don’t ask them to show them their scars, if they remember anything. Do you hear me!? If you do, I’ll take away all your toys and you’ll be grounded for months! I mean it! And no funny business, Fred, George!” 

“Yes, mum,” the kids chimed together, though the twins shared a look with each other. It was doubtful they were going to listen to their mother about no funny business. 

“We better get going if we’re driving there, Molly,” Arthur said. “Especially if we’re to make it by lunch,” 

“We’re eating there?” Percy asked. 

“Yes,” Molly said with a nod. “We figured that’d give everyone enough time to meet each other and talk, and then you, Charlie, and Bill can decide if you’d like to stay longer. If you don’t, your father and I will apparate you home, or to your friends, if you’d like,” 

“Why not use the Floo?” Charlie asked with a tilt of his head. “That’s faster,” 

“Their home is in the middle of being set up to the Floor network,” Arthur explained to his kids, motioning them to walk with them so they could head outside. “They took it down until most of the Death Eater trials were finished,”

Bill nodded in understanding. With so many being arrested, and on the run, it made sense for them to get rid of one way for unexpected guests. 

The Weasley family piled into the Ford Angela, Molly placing Ron and Ginny in their magiced seats to keep them safe, much to the annoyance of Ron. It took a little time, but they finally pulled up to the Potter mansion, the kids eyes growing at the sight of it. 

“A chocolate frog saying they’re spoiled rotten,” Fred whispered to his twin brother. 

George frowned. He didn’t want to turn down the bet, but, honestly, he was thinking the same as his brother. Saved the world, didn’t die, lived in a huge house, clearly their family had money. They were probably spoiled. But he could win a chocolate frog on the off chance…

“Sure,” he nodded. “Though I ate my last one, so could mine be a pumpkin pasty if you win?” 

“Fine,” Fred said, holding out his hand. “Chocolate frog if you win, pumpkin pasty if I win,” 

“Really? Betting on people you haven’t even met yet?” Bill said, turning in his seat to look at his little brothers. “That’s pretty prejudice of you,” 

“What?” The twins asked together.

“Prejudice,” Charlie said, turning around. “Means you’re judging someone without knowing them based on certain things,” 

“Come on,” Fred whined. “You guys know that most of the wizarding families with this much money spoil their kids. Like the Malfoys,” 

“Or the Flints,” George frowned. 

“Yeah, but you figured that out after meeting them,” Bill pointed out. “If you start judging people before you know them, you’ll have a hard time making friends,” 

“Just be open about it,” Charlie agreed. “You might be pleasantly surprised,” 

“Fine,” Fred said with a pout. “But we already made the bet, so no take backsies. Besides, I stand to win some candy if I’m right,” 

Bill and Charlie sighed, rolling their eyes before turning forward in their seats.

“Oh, look! We’re going to be having a picnic! Isn’t that wonderful!” Molly gushed as she pointed to the family laying on some blankets in their front yard. 

Or...well, there was Lily, and the Potter twins. Harry was on a stag, who was prancing around, much to the delight of Harry, and Elara was petting a black shaggy dog, who rolled over, and Elara promptly began to scratch the dog’s chest. 

“...they have a pet deer and dog,” Fred looked to his oldest. “I think I’m off to a great start,” 

George frowned. Darn, he didn’t want to lose that treat…”It’s their attitudes that matter, too, brother, dearest,” He reminded him. 

The Weasley’s exited the car, Lily looking up and giving them a wave. “Welcome! Come, sit down! Harry, James, get over here, the Weasley’s are here!” 

The twins couldn’t help but wonder why they named a deer James. They should’ve been much more creative about it, or make it punny. 

The buck looked over to them, trotting over to the group, Lily standing up to lift Harry off the deer, who quickly transformed before the children’s eyes, who grew wide eyed. 

“Wicked,” The twins said breathlessly. 

The dog was next, transforming into a person laying on their back, sitting up. The twins blinked again. 

“We wanna do that!” They cried out.

“Sorry, boys,” Sirius grinned. “Advance piece of magic, really advanced. Takes forever, too,” 

“Do not tell them how to become a you-know-what!” Molly shrieked. Last thing she needed was her boys to try and go through it and end up as a half beast at seven years old! 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Molly,” James reassured her. 

“Okay, I think introductions are in order,” Lily said with a smile. “I’m Lily Potter, this is James Potter, my husband. The little tyke in my arms is Harry, and his sister...Lara, where’d you go?” She blinked, turning to find Elara was no longer sitting where she had been.

“Currently hiding behind my leg,” Sirius said cheerfully. Sure enough, the group looked down and saw a small girl barely peeking out from Sirius’s leg, her red hair being the thing that didn’t help her blend in to Sirius’s black pants. 

“Elara, don’t be shy,” James said, kneeling down next to his daughter. “The Weasley’s are a nice bunch,” 

Elara just stared up at her father, and he took her hand, slowly leading her out from behind Sirius. “This is Elara,” James said. “You can call her that, or Lara, she doesn’t mind either,” 

“But you can’t call her Ellie,” Harry said fiercely. “That’s mine!” 

“Yes, Harry, we know Ellie is off the table,” Lily said with a smile. It was adorable how protective Harry was with Elara, though she was worried about Elara and this shyness. She hoped she grew out of it, or, even if she didn’t, would be able to come out of her shell. She hadn’t been the same since that attack...her once outgoing daughter was now shy around anyone she didn’t know. Not that Lily could blame her. For her whole life, she only knew people who were kind and loving, and suddenly a man came and caused them major pain. It was why Harry could be overprotective of his sister, as well, more so than he used to be. 

“And I’m Sirius Black,” Sirius said. “Godfather and uncle to these two,” 

“I’m Molly Weasley,” Molly said, sending the kids a soft smile. “This is my husband, Arthur, my oldest, Bill, then Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny,” 

“Nice little Quidditch team you got there,” Sirius chirped, causing Lily to smack him on the arm. 

“Honestly, Molly, you’ll have to share your secret on how you keep up with them,” Lily said. “Some days I feel like I’m on fumes with these two...well, four, since I should add James and Sirius to that list,” 

James and Sirius just gave Lily a sheepish smile. Truthfully, James was a wonderful father, just sometimes he and Sirius fed off each other’s energy and would occasionally forget that there were some things they shouldn’t encourage just yet. 

“Well, let’s sit! Winney!!” Lily called. 

The Weasley group was startled as a crack was heard, and a female house elf stood there wearing a sky-blue pillow case with white flowers embroidered on it. “Yes missus?” Her high voice asked. 

“Could you please let me know if the meat pies are done?” Lily asked. 

“Yes missus!” The elf said, disappearing with a loud crack before appearing once more. “Missus, they have about five more minutes left,” 

“Thanks, Winney, we can take it from here,” Lily said. “You’re dismissed for the rest of the afternoon, feel free to do whatever you’d like. Just check back in around five, please,” 

“Oh, yes, missus!” The elf bowed, beaming happily at the family. “Oh! Young Missus, it’s time to check your potion,” 

“Thanks, Winney,” The girl said softly before looking up at her mother. “I need to take it off the fire,” 

“I’ll take her,” Sirius said, reaching for Elara’s hand. “And I’ll check on the pies, bring them out once their done,” 

“Ooo! Is it the magic slime one, Ellie?” Harry asked eagerly. “The one you said you’d make me,” 

Elara nodded her head, giving her brother a smile, turning and headed up towards the house. 

“Potion?” Molly asked as they took a seat on the blanket.

“Severus gifted her with a Child’s Potion Kit,” Lily explained. “She’s been obsessed with it ever since then. But she’s not allowed to use it without adult supervision,” 

“I’m terrible at it,” Harry said with a frown. 

“You’ll get there, Harry,” James said encouragingly. He hadn’t been great at potions either, so, his son had his gift with that, anyway. He was going to have to work on it. 

The group chatted together before Sirius came out with Elara, plates and drinks floating around them, while Elara held a plate of cookies in her hand. The young girl set it down on the ground before taking a seat next to Harry, and Sirius flicked his wrist, the plates settling down in front of each person, same with the glasses of lemonade. 

“It’s cooling,” Elara told her brother. “It should be in shape once we’re finished with lunch,” 

“Thanks, Ellie!” Harry chirped, reaching for a cookie.

“Don’t even think about it, young man,” Lily said sternly. “Lunch before dessert,” 

Harry pouted but took his hand away. “Yes, mummy,” 

The rest of lunch continued as the family chatted, though the youngest Potter didn’t say much, though she did answer when spoken to. Soon they were finished, Lily started to hand out cookies, when Elara suddenly spoke, causing the adults to be startled. 

“No! Not that one! That’s Harry’s!” 

Lily blinked, before her eyes narrowed slightly. “And why is this one so special for Harry?” 

“...I added M&Ms when you weren’t looking,” Elara said meekly. 

Lily expected the cookie, noticing her daughter was right before handing it to Harry, who grinned in delight at his sister. “You know you could’ve asked, Lara,” 

“It needed to be a surprise,” Elara said firmly. Lily just shook her head.

Once everyone had gotten a cookie, they dug in, though Sirius was keeping an eye on Elara. He had thought she had added something to the cookies, at least, to one of them, but he couldn’t be sure…

“These were really good, Mummy,” Harry chirped. 

“Thank you, Harry,” Lily said. 

Fred and George tilted their head to the side, watching the older Potter child speak, noticing. “Uh, hey, Harry, stick out your tongue,” Fred said. 

“...what?” Harry asked with a blink. 

“Fred, what did I say about funny business!” Molly hissed to her child.

“It’s not us causing funny business ‘round here, mum,” George said. “But we think Harry has a bright blue tongue,” 

This caused Harry to blink, sticking his tongue out, trying to glance down at this tongue, only seeing the tip, which, was, in fact, a bright blue. “Ellie!” Harry shouted, turning to look at his sister, who was no longer there. 

“She’s making an escape,” Sirius pointed out cheerfully, as the girl was running back towards the house. 

“Ellie!!” Harry shouted, standing up, beginning to chase his sister. 

“I wonder what Harry did this time,” James said with a small laugh. 

“So Lara likes pranks?” The twins asked with a grin. Maybe this playdate wouldn’t be so bad after all!

“Sort of,” James said. “She mostly uses them for revenge, from what I can tell,” Something she got from him, which made him pretty happy, and something he was sure Lily sometimes wished she didn’t have. 

“...you know, come to think of it,” Sirius said. “I thought I caught her muttering something about a fudgesicle…” 

“...Oh no,” James said with a frown. “I really hope Harry didn’t do what I think he did…” 

“What?” The twins asked. 

“What’s a fudgesicle?” Arthur asked eagerly. 

“Muggle frozen dessert,” Sirius said. “Think of a popsicle but made of chocolate instead. Lara’s favorite frozen treat,” 

“That sounds good,” Ron said. 

“Oh, it’s delicious,” James agreed. “But we buy them sparingly, so she tends to take dibs on some, but she shares the rest. However...someone ate most of them without us knowing, until there was one left,” He shot Sirius a look, who returned it with a sheepish grin. 

“I didn’t realize how many I ate when I kept coming to visit! I told her the next time we’re in the muggle world, I’ll buy her two cases,” 

“Yeah, so I’m guessing Harry decided to test his luck, even when he knew she had dibs,” James said. “We take some dibs pretty seriously here, add to the fact that she never got her favorite treat…” 

“I wonder if she has more planned,” Sirius said pleasantly. “A bright blue tongue seems a bit tame for revenge,” 

“I really wish you two wouldn’t try and corrupt her,” Lily said with a sigh, though there was little venom to it. 

“Sorry, love, she’s my kid, too,” James said with a playful wink. “She’s already corrupted,” 

“Too true!” Sirius cheered, holding up his cookie and taking a bite in celebration. 

The group watched as Harry chased his sister, though the twins finding what they thought about the Potters, even before they met them, being shattered. These people seemed pretty down to Earth, and the kids seemed alright. Of course, the bet was still on. They were in front of adults, so it is entirely possible they’re different in front of them. 

“Okay, okay!” Lily called out. “Chase yourselves over here!” 

The twins complied running back to their mother, Elara giving her a smile, and Harry had a scowl on his features, though there wasn’t much anger to it.

“Okay, so how long is Harry going to have a blue tongue?” Lily asked. 

“I doubt it’s blue anymore,” Elara answered innocently. 

The twins narrowed their eyes in thought. That seemed far too lenient for a revenge prank, not realizing James, Lily, and Sirius were thinking similarly. 

Harry quickly stuck out his tongue, revealing it to be a bright yellow, watching as it slowly changed to purple, causing the Weasley twins to let out a laugh. 

“Okay, Lara, how long is it going to be changing colors?” James asked, trying to hold back his own laugh. 

“Dunno,” Elara said with a small shrug. “A few hours, at least,” 

“Lara, you really need to be careful with messing around with a potion like that,” Lily said with a frown. It was innocent enough, but any potion could turn quite dangerous if not handled properly. 

“Severus was there, mummy,” Elara said. “He’s the one who showed me how to make it a bit more advance,” 

James frowned, and Sirius scowled. They still didn’t care for Snivilous at all, and James didn’t like how much interest Snape had with Elara, even if Lily’s arguments made sense. Elara was interested in potions, and her having a leg up by a Potionsmaster would help her a lot in school. Why not give Elara that advantage. 

It just...something about it rubbed him the wrong way. But he was always nice to Elara, and he mostly showed up when James wasn’t here, so it worked. 

“Professor Snape comes here?” Bill asked with surprise. 

“Yes, we were friends during school,” Lily explained. “We had a small falling out, but, recently, we’ve begun to try and be friends again,” 

Lily had learned life was short, and while there were things Severus had done and said that she didn’t agree with, she was going to try. Because at least then she knew she tried to mend something that she did miss.

But of course, people changed, so it was an interesting dance they were doing. Hopefully they’d get there. 

Arthur and Molly exchanged a glance. They had been told about Severus changing sides, even being the one to warn Dumbledore about the hit on the Potters...they trusted Dumbledore, so if he said Severus Snape was one of them, then he was. Still…

“Well, it’s wonderful to find something you have a knack for,” Molly said, hoping to break the tension. “What is it that you’re good at, Harry?” 

“Flying,” Harry said with a grin. 

“You’ve got your own big kid broom?” Fred asked. They only just were able to use Bill’s old one, but even then, there mum told them they couldn’t fly without either Bill, their father, or her there. Very annoying…

“Not really,” Harry said with a frown. “We still have training brooms...but I am really good on it! Dad says I’m a natural!” 

“We?” George asked before looking to Elara. “You like flying, too?” 

Elara just nodded her head at the red haired twin. 

“Once you get a little older, Harry, we’ll see about a big kid broom,” Lily said. “Being good in school will help,” 

“School?” Bill said with a blink. 

“But they’re too little to go to Hogwarts,” Percy said with a frown.

“No, no,” Lily quickly corrected. “Not wizard school, muggle school. I want them to see both sides, and since now it’s safe, I can send them to primary school for a few years until they attend Hogwarts,” 

“What’s muggle school like?” Arthur asked eagerly. He had always been interested, and he was hoping that Lily might be able to answer some questions he had. 

“Pretty much like Hogwarts except they learn different subjects. Maths, English, Science, maybe a language, things like that. There are some that are boarding schools, but the one I’m sending them to is just a day school,” 

“Day school?” Arthur asked. 

“Yes, it means we drop them off at school at a certain time, and we pick them back up by a certain time, unless they have after-school activities, then we pick them up later and take them home,” Lily explained. She wasn’t ready to lose her babies to a boarding school. She only had a handful of years left before they both went off to Hogwarts.

“Fascinating!” Arthur exclaimed. 

“When do you start?” Percy asked. Their mother homeschooled them with math, reading, and English, but those other subjects sounded interesting. 

“Next year,” Harry answered, pouting slightly. “I’m excited about meeting new people, not so much for actually learning,” 

“Just like your father!” Sirius beamed before coughing at the glare Lily gave him. “But studies are important, Harry. You should do your best,” 

“Seriously, Harry, take it from someone who went that route,” James said seriously. “Start early, keep it up. Makes it easier on you in the long run,” 

“I know…” Harry said with a sigh. Plus, between his mum and Ellie, he doubted he would be able to get away with doing no homework in the long run. 

“Well, since we’re all finished...you two know what to do,” Lily said with a nod, and her twins stood up, collecting their plates and glasses, turning to head back into the home, James collecting his plate and his wife’s before following them into the house. 

“What’s going on?” Fred asked as Lily stood, using her wand to collect the remaining plates. “I mean, besides the obvious,” 

“Hm? Oh, it’s part of their chore list,” Lily said. “Pretty sure Lara’s going to get her reward sooner than Harry,” 

“Chore list?” Fred said with a small frown. Darn, that pumpkin pasty was looking further and further away. 

“I know, chores aren’t fun, but they are useful,” Lily said with a smile, misunderstanding that frown. 

“Lily, dear, we can help with the dishes,” Molly said as she stood up.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Molly,” Lily said. “We’ll just use the cleaning spell. We normally don’t, since normally there isn’t quite that many dishes that they can’t be hand washed, but we can make an exception,” 

“What’s their reward?” George asked as they followed, Sirius picking up the blanket as they headed inside.

“Hm? Well, it depends on how often they did their chores for the week, but for the most part, they’ll just get a treat. For example, sometimes Lara will ask for fudgesicles, or she’ll ask for a new book. As long as it isn’t outrageous, we’ll reward them with it,” Lily explained as they entered their home.

Which was a lot more homey than the twins expected, given it was a pureblood mansion. They followed Lily into the kitchen, where Elara was just finished putting her dishes in the sink, when Lily flicked her wrist and the plates and glasses she had went to the sink. With another flick of her wrist, the water began to run and the dishes began to clean themselves.  
“Kids, why don’t you show the Weasley’s kids your playroom?” Lily said with a smile. She knew they had been wishing for more friends over the past few years, but given the circumstances, they couldn’t. This would be a great time to do so. 

“Mummy, can I go in the potion room just to grab the slime?” Elara asked. “It should be cool enough to touch by now,” 

“Oh, so you actually did make it for me,” Harry said with a grin. “I thought you just made this,” 

“Did promise,” Elara said with a nod. 

“Okay, but in and out, got it?” Lily said.

“Yes, mummy!” Elara chirped, taking Harry’s hand and they turned towards the stairs, leading the way up, with the Weasley children following behind them, their eyes darting around as they took in the house. They stopped in front of a door on the second floor, Elara letting go of Harry’s hand and went into a room, where the Weasley children peeked in, their jaws dropping. 

Inside was every Potioneers dream. Cauldrons, tons of ingredients, a desk, a potion shelf, and tucked in a corner was two small cauldrons together. They watched as Elara approached one of them, reaching inside to pull out something that resembled a smoother and firmer version of slime, though this one was a light green, handing it to Harry before shutting the door behind her. 

“Thanks, Ellie!” Harry chirped as they continued down the hallway, coming across another door, opening it, to reveal a colorful room, half of the walls were painted the same green as the slime, and the others were painted a dark blue. On the dark hardwood floors was a red rug, and there were toy chests, shelves filled with games, a few toys, bean bag chairs, and a couch. There was a table set up in a corner, paper and crayons, markers, and colored pencils. 

“Wow,” Fred muttered to his twin, who hummed in agreement, and the other Weasley’s eyes widened. 

“Wow,” Ron agreed, walking into the room. “These are all yours?” 

“Uh, mine and Ellie’s,” Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Didn’t really ask for some of them, though,” 

“Why? Cause you had to settle?” Fred said with a roll of his eyes. 

“...kinda,” Harry said turning around as he walked over to the table, placing his slime next to a purple one. “We wanted friends to play with,” 

“Mummy said it wasn’t possible yet,” Elara said softly, her own back towards the Weasley’s  
Charlie whacked Fred on the arm, shooting him a glare. 

“Why not?” George asked with a tilt of his head, letting out a soft ouch, rubbing his own arm from where Bill hit him. 

“You don’t have to answer that,” Bill told the Potter twins. “Ignore my younger brothers, they don’t have manners,” 

“Hey!” The Weasley twins protested, shooting their brother a glare. 

Harry turned his head, tilting it at the others, and Bill was suddenly aware that the two Potters might actually be a bit older than their actual age, given the look Harry was giving them. 

“We were in hiding,” Harry said simply. “Only Uncle Remus, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Moody, and Mr. Dumbledore could come visit,” 

“Wait...so you guys never...left your house? Here?” George asked with a blink. 

“Only played with each other?” Fred asked. 

“We only just moved here a few weeks ago,” Elara said simply. “But yeah,” 

“And yes,” Harry said. 

“So...you don’t have any friends besides you and your family?” Ron asked softly.

The twins shook their heads. Ron frowned for a moment before walking over to them. “I’ll be your friend, then,” 

“Me too,” Ginny said, speaking for the first time since they arrived. 

The Weasley twins looked to each other, speaking without words, as they often did. Fred was willing to admit he judge them quicker than he should’ve, and he was finding them interesting, while George agreed. Though George felt that Elara had a bit more of an air of sadness to her, though he couldn’t explain why. But either way, they both agreed.

“We’ll be your friends, too,” They said together, looking at the younger twins in front of them. 

“And me,” Bill said with a smile. 

Charlie and Percy both voiced their own positive about being their friends, and Harry and Elara looked to them, slightly shocked but touched, before they both smiled happily. 

“Yay!” They cried together. 

“Do you guys wanna play something?!” Harry asked excitedly. 

“Yeah! You guys pick!” Elara said with a bright smile. 

With that, the Weasley’s separated, looking around the playroom at the toys or games they could play with. Bill approached one of the shelves that had a few things stacked on top of it, including a small blue stuffed monkey. Bill tilted his head, reaching out towards it, his fingers brushing along the soft fabric when he heard a cry.

“NOOOO!” The Potter twins cried out, causing all the Weasley’s to look at them. 

“NOT THE MONKEY!” They cried out, running over to Bill, who blinked. 

“Uh, is it special or something-” He asked before a loud screech was heard, and he slowly turned to see the monkey had come to life, barring its soft teeth at him. Bill stared at the thing, as did the rest of the Weasley’s, and the Potter twins held still. 

“...oh no…” Elara said softly. 

The monkey let out another shriek, launching itself at Bill, who let out a shocked cry, moving himself backwards, but too late, as the monkey latched itself on his head, pulling it. The Weasley twins let out a bark of laughter, pointing at their eldest brother, before the monkey turned to them, shrieking once more, launching itself at them. Fred was the first of the twins to have the monkey pull at his own hair, before launching itself at George’s face, pulling an ear, causing him to yelp. 

“What is that thing?!” Fred shouted, looking to Elara and Harry, the monkey running around terrorizing the guests and the room. 

“And don’t say a monkey! We can see that!” George shouted. 

“It’s a gift from Uncle Sirius!” Elara said, chasing the monkey around the room. 

“It’s enchanted to turn to life whenever someone touches it!” Harry said.

“Just the problem is,” The twins said together. “It gets like this more often than not!” 

“The door!” Elara shouted as she watched in horror, as the monkey made its way to the open door. “Don’t let it out!” 

Percy blinked, watching as everything happened, before realizing he was the one closest to the door, trying to make his way over before the monkey, but it slipped out by the time he got there. 

“Quick!” Harry said. “We’ve got to go after it! It’ll be harder to catch if it gets outside, come on!” 

Bill quickly went over to Ginny, turning around for her to get on his back. He knew his sister would have trouble keeping up, but he didn’t want her to excluded. 

“Well, let’s go catch ourselves a monkey!” Charlie cheered, causing the other children to cheer in agreement, running out the door, following the shrieking sounds. 

Lily smiled as she heard the sounds of the children playing, even if it did have to do with that blasted monkey. It seemed they were getting along, or, at least, found a common enemy to bring them together. 

“Really? Someone had to touch the monkey?” Lily said with a sigh, though the corner of her mouth twitched upward, betraying her annoyance. 

“Always knew that monkey was good for something,” Sirius beamed.

“You’re the one who made it,” James said with a roll of his eyes, but it was off set by his smile.

“Monkey?” Molly asked with a tilt of her head. 

“He gifted the kids with a stuffed monkey one birthday,” Lily explained. “It’s enchanted that once you touch it, it comes to life for a few hours and it’ll play with you, however…” 

“Sometimes it gets into a mood,” Sirius said with a sheepish grin. 

Molly blinked but any questions she had were soon answered as stuffed monkey came running in, looking up at James and Lily, letting out a hiss, and James rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t even think about it, bud,” James said, pointing his wand at the monkey, who hissed again, and soon the sound of children crying out was heard, and the monkey jumped up onto the table, before jumping over to the counter, and then climbing up on to a cabinet door, dangling on it. Soon, a gaggle of children in, and Lily sipped her tea as they began to clambering up to the cabinet, Charlie trying to reach for it, when it shrieked again, jumping across the room and landing on the island, causing the children to run over to it. 

“Percy! Man the door!” Bill shouted, and Percy nodded, blocking the door. 

“Watch it! It’s fainting right!” Sirius called, watching the scene with a smile.

Arthur and Molly watched for a curious moment before Arthur turned to James. “So, an Auror, you say?” 

The monkey glanced between Percy and the doorway, before looking up and seeing an open window. With a shriek of glee, it ran past Percy, and Charlie moved as fast as he could indoors and without hitting the adults, reaching as it flung itself out the window, Charlie’s fingers barely brushing past its tail. 

“No!” The Potter twins cried out. 

“We need to go get it!” Harry cried out. 

“Okay, let’s move!” Charlie said and the gaggle of children quickly left the room as quickly as they came, while the adults chatted pleasantly amongst themselves. Once they had left, they jumped up, peeking outside the windows as they watched the children run towards one of the trees the monkey was heading towards.

“Arthur!” Molly whispered excitedly, shaking her husband’s shoulder. “Look! Look at George!” 

Elara had fallen behind from the group, and George reached out for Elara, taking her hand in his, helping her towards the tree. 

“They’ve made some friends…” Lily said softly, and James wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders, pulling her close. 

“Thank you both so much for coming,” James said as he looked to the Weasley’s. “And for bringing the children. They’ve asked for three years for friends, and with everything that happened…” 

“We were happy to do so,” Molly said quickly. “I’m just as happy that everyone seems to be getting along, even my eldest children,” 

The two families watched the children play, both of them happy smiles on their features. Though no one spoke it, they were all thinking the same thing. 

This was the start of a beautiful friendship between the two wizarding families.


	4. The Power of Slime

“Ellie!” Harry called out, knocking on his sister’s door, waiting for her acknowledgement before opening the door, stepping into his sister’s room. “I’m heading over to the Weasley’s for a while to hang out and play, you wanna come?” 

“No, thanks,” Elara said, her back to her brother, sitting at her desk. She didn’t see the frown come to Harry’s face. 

It had been four years since they first met the Weasley’s, and they all had become pretty close. Close enough that both of the Potter twins considered Molly and Arthur to be their second set of parents, and the Weasley children...some were like siblings, while others were just best friends. But lately, Elara hadn’t been going over there, and Harry was slowly starting to understand why. 

When they first started Muggle school, things were pretty good. They made some friends, though the Weasley’s were always their best, and they did well in their studies...well, Elara did well, Harry needed some help in some subjects, but that was fine. They did a few sports, Elara was part of an art club. It was only just this year that she was struggling with some bullies, and she hadn’t really told anyone about it. 

Sure, their parents knew Elara was struggling with one girl, but that’s only because Elara made it seem like they just didn’t click, and it wasn’t anything personal. 

When it was. 

Patricia Green. That was the name of the girl who kept bullying her, well, the person who started it. She had two lackies that followed her and did as she bidded. After some...discreet asking around, and then getting his twin to open up, it turned out Patricia did a lot more to Elara than just verbally making fun of her. She destroyed some of her notes, did stuff to her locker, and was doing some very hurtful pranks. 

Didn’t take a genius at that moment to realize she was avoiding the Weasley’s because of the twins. Even though the twins never tried to do anything hurtful on purpose, sometimes their pranks...well…

Plus, if you were bullied and pranked all day at school, why would you want to go somewhere where it was bound to happen anyway, even if the pranksters didn’t mean it, nor knew that it was a sore spot right now. 

“Are you sure, Ellie? I mean, you and the twins are close, you could ask them for a prank free day-”    
  
“And have them know something’s up? No, thanks, Harry. I’m handling this on my own,” Elara said. 

“Ellie, all you have to say is it’s been a bad week-”   
  
“Harry, you know that to them that means time for more pranks to make someone smile,” Elara said with a sigh, turning in her chair to look at her brother. “Besides, I’m trying to finish my drawing for art club that’s due this Monday, okay? Just go, have fun. Tell them I’m sorry for not coming, and explain the project,” 

Harry sighed before nodding, though before leaving, he walked over to his sister, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly and he pressed a soft kiss to her hair. “Ellie, if this gets worse or continues with no sign of stopping, I  _ am  _ telling mum and dad the truth,” 

“...I know,” Elara said softly. She would do the same in his shoes, and he had been doing his best to stay out of it, even though Elara knew it was hard for him. But she needed to deal with this on her own. 

“I’ll be back by dinner,” Harry said. “Just floo if you need me,” 

“I will,” Elara said with a smile. 

With that, Harry left his sister’s room, shutting the door and letting out a sigh. His sister was getting more and more withdrawn as this went on. He was going to get her to go out and be with people, friends, that truly cared for her. He didn’t care if she was going to be mad at him for it, she needed it. 

With that in mind, he nodded firmly to himself. He didn’t have a set plan, but he’d make it up as he went along. That was something he was good at, and, apparently, got it from his father. He headed downstairs, hearing the hushed whispers of his parents, who stopped as he came down.

“Harry, before you head to the Weasley’s, we need to ask you something,” James said seriously to his son, and Harry inwardly winced. He had told Ellie that if their parents asked out right about bullying, he wouldn’t lie to them. She agreed, but thankfully, to her, her explanation hadn’t caused them to ask the question. 

But Harry was hoping with the way she was acting would start their parents talking, and it looked like it had. 

“Yeah, dad?” Harry asked. 

“Did...something at school happen with Lara?” James asked. “She’s just...closing herself off with everyone…” 

Blast…they didn’t ask. “Patricia said something to her on Friday that just made her a little sad,” Harry answered truthfully. 

“Do you know what she said?” Lily asked.

Harry shook his head. “Ellie said she’d tell me by the end of this weekend though. I’ll let you know if it is really bad,” 

“And the Weasley’s,” James asked. “We’ve noticed she hasn’t been going over there as often...did something happen there?” 

“Uh, no,” Harry said with a shake of his head. “She’s just been finishing up some homework, projects, and stuff for art club. That’s why she’s not coming with me today; she has a project due Monday and she was having artist block, so she really needs to get something down,” 

James and Lily exchanged looks, and Harry was sure they weren’t buying the full story. Sure, she was doing her homework, but Ellie was the champ at keeping to her studies, but also keeping a good social life. 

“If it helps, I have a plan that’ll cheer her up,” Harry said quickly. “So I’ll probably be back sooner than you think to drag her out of her room,” 

James and Lily smiled at this, giving a nod. They weren’t exactly pleased with what was going on, and they really did feel like there was something more going on than what Elara, and even Harry, were telling them. They were actually planning on talking to the twins teacher’s shortly, if things didn’t improve. 

“Harry, you’d tell us if something was on, right?” James asked his son. It was no secret the twins were close, had their own secrets, and had their backs. It wasn’t out of the question for them to ask the other to let them handle it and not tell them about it. 

Harry paused for a moment, frowning as he tried to answer that question without giving away what was going on. “If things started getting bad, yeah, course, I’d tell you,” Harry said. That was the best he could do without lying, and he wasn’t going to lie to his parents. Not about this. 

James and Lily studied their son for a moment before nodding. “Okay,” Lily said. “Have fun at the Weasley’s, tell them we said hello,”    
  
“Will do,” Harry said as he went to their fireplace, reaching for the floo powder, shouting “The Burrow!” and stepping into the fire. 

Harry stepped out of the fireplace, greeted by the familiar sight of the Burrow, though there was still a frown on his features, as he dusted some of the soot off his shirt. 

“Harry! Wonderful to see you again,” Molly Weasley said with a warm smile though she blinked when no one else appeared from the fireplace. “No Lara again?” 

The Weasley children that were present, which was just, Bill, the twins, Ron, and Ginny,as Charlie, and Percy were in school, as they had just finished breakfast, looked to Harry, Arthur and the twins wearing a frown. They hadn’t seen Lara in weeks…

“She said she’s sorry, but she has an art project due this Monday and she really needs to get it done,” Harry said, though his gaze went to the twins. “Can I talk to you two, Fred, George, for a moment?Just the three of us?” 

The Weasley twins blinked, turning to each other, speaking to each other without words. ‘ _ Did you do something?’  _ Fred asked. ‘ _ Not that I remember, did you?’  _ George asked. Fred shook his head and they both nodded to each other before looking at Harry. “Sure thing,” George said. “Outside?” 

Harry nodded, heading over to the door, which Fred and George did as well, heading outside the Burrow and headed towards a small little pond that was far enough from the house, but not enough to worry Molly. 

“So uh...if we made you angry, mind telling us what we did before you push us in, or something?” Fred asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

“It’s not me,” Harry said. 

George frowned. Then…”Wait, you’re saying this has something to do with La-La?” 

“We haven’t been able to do anything to her in weeks, Harry, she hasn’t been here,” Fred said with a frown, not liking the idea they had done something to upset their friend without realizing it. 

“And we didn’t do anything major last time she was here,” George said. “Last thing we did was give her some candy from Zonko’s that gave her the hiccups for a while after she ate it,” 

“No, it’s not something you guys did, it’s something you guys  _ do _ ,” Harry said. This was going to be hard to explain without telling them everything…

“Wait, what?!” The twins exclaimed.

“She’s not coming over cause we like to play pranks?” Fred asked harshly. “What the hell?” 

“So, what, she hates the family now cause of us?” George asked, more hurt than angry. 

“What? No! Merlin, you know Ellie, she likes pranks...well...some,” Harry said quickly and a frown came to his features once more and he sighed. 

“...Harry, now I’m just confused,” George said. “Clearly, there’s something going on, mate,” 

“Yeah, but we can’t exactly help unless you tell us,” Fred said seriously as well, though he still felt a bit angry. 

Harry was silent for several moments before he looked up at the twins, his expression quite serious, a sight that was usually only seen when it did have to do with Elara. “I need you two to promise me, on the honor big brothers, that you won’t push me to say more than what I say. That you don’t tell Ellie I told you, you don’t tell your siblings, you don’t tell your parents, you don’t tell my parents, you don’t tell Uncle Sirius, Remus or Moody. You tell no one, it stays between us,” 

The twins blinked, and their demeanor changed to something serious as well. Though most people didn’t believe it, they could be quite serious, especially when called upon being a big brother. It just didn’t happen often, considering they enjoyed making people laugh, and they had three older brothers that tended to take up the job for them. 

“We promise,” the twins said together, offering their pinky fingers to the boy in front of them, something they learned from Elara and Harry. 

Harry reached out, locking his two pinkies around the others, shaking them, before he let out a sigh. “There’s this...girl, at school…” Harry began, frowning as he tried to think of a way to word this without spilling all of Ellie’s secrets. “She and Ellie don’t get along...at all. Think cats and dogs. Fire and water…”   
  
“Okay…” Fred said, encouraging Harry to continue. 

“The girl...has two other friends who are pretty much her followers,” Harry said cautiously. “And at first...it was just disagreements, you know? Normal stuff, nothing major. But now...it’s…” Ugh! This was so frustrating!

George frowned, his hand coming up to rub his chin as he thought, rolling around everything Harry had just said in his mind, before and after. He blinked before turning to Harry. “Getting worse...so we’re past vocal,”    
  
“Yeah,” Harry said. 

“And she doesn’t want to come over cause we play pranks,” Fred said, catching on to George’s thought. 

“Yes,” Harry said, giving a sigh of relief. The twins were figuring it out. 

“Harry...is she bullying La-La?” George asked seriously. 

“That is a very interesting word to use for it,” Harry said though he feverishly nodded his head. 

“And she’s doing stuff that most people call pranks but are actually pretty vicious?” Fred asked with a frown, his anger now suddenly directed toward this unnamed girl doing that to their sweet Elara. 

“That’s an interesting guess,” Harry nodded eagerly. 

“...I’m guessing you can’t tell anyone past what Lara’s told people, cause you promised,” George sighed. “Which you now made us promise,” 

Harry placed his finger to his nose, then rubbed the tip of it to pretend he was just scratching an itch. 

“Harry, what can we do to help? Besides encouraging you to tell her to tell someone,” Fred said. 

“Working on it,” Harry said quickly. “But, can you guys just...hold off on any pranks on her? I don’t care how harmless they are, she...uh, if she  _ was  _ getting pranked, it would happen every week, and I doubt she would want them on the weekend too, when it’s her only break,” 

“Sure,” George answered instantly, Fred nodding in agreement. “We can do that till this is resolved, at least,” 

Harry blinked before a sigh of relief escaped him though then he blinked. “You’ll seriously stop pranking Ellie this whole time until this gets resolved?” From all the years he’s known the twins, them not pranking for that long was unheard of. 

The twins frowned, a little hurt that Harry thought they wouldn’t keep their word. “Give us some credit, Harry,” Fred said with narrowed eyes. 

“We love La-La,” George said with a frown. “Course we wouldn’t do something to make her feel worse. Besides, we’d do this even if she wasn’t our friend. That’s just a prick move,” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Harry said. “I just meant more...you guys stopping that long,” 

“Oh,” The twins said.

“No, it’s cool, we still have four other people to prank in the house, five if we do small things to Ginny,” Fred said. 

“Okay, thanks,” Harry said with a grin. “Now, if you excuse me, I need to kidnap my sister,” 

“Thought she has an art project due?” Fred asked with a raised brow.

“She does, and she has been struggling to draw lately,” Harry admitted, which cause the twins to look even more concern. 

“La-La struggling to draw? Harry, that’s pretty serious,” George said, though he knew Harry was well aware of this. “She doodles all the time,” 

“I know,” Harry said with a sigh. “It’s why I’m thinking about telling mom and dad about the possibility of it...but…”

“You’re both too stubborn for your own good,” Fred sighed. “Go grab La-La, we’ll be here getting the best day ever planned,” 

Harry grinned at the twins. “Will do! Just when I get back with her, if she asked, I just told you guys she had a rough week!” He quickly ran inside, and the twins watched him go.

“...he never did say the name of the girl, did he?” Fred asked his twin. 

“No, he didn’t,” George said, his hand turning into a fist. 

“Why didn’t she tell us, Georgie?” Fred asked with a hiss. “We’re her friends,” 

“Probably the same reason she swore Harry to secrecy to everyone,” George hissed back. He was just as upset to know that their La-La was hurting, hurting so much that she couldn’t draw, couldn’t even be in the same room as them, and they assumed differently.

That Lara...played them so well. 

“We’re going to figure out who she is,” Fred said with a growl, and George nodded in agreement. 

“Damn right we are,” George said. “But first off, we’re gonna make La-La feel so damned loved and welcomed that she’s going to forget about that girl while she’s here,” 

“Damn right!” Fred grinned, holding up his fist to his brother, who returned the fist bump.

“...though Freddie,” 

“Yes, Georgie?” 

“We probably should try to cool it on the damns until Hogwarts. Mum will kill us if she hears us,” 

“...too right,” Fred grinned. 

With that, the twins made their way back inside, though they each took a different side of the fireplace, causing Molly to raise a curious brow at them. “What are you two doing?” 

“Surprising La-La when she gets here!” They cheered. 

Molly smiled and shook her head slightly. It had surprised her how close her twins had gotten to Elara, since she had assumed with Ron and Ginny being closer to their age, she would've been closer to them. Still, she was glad for it. 

The fireplace suddenly had green flames in it, and out stepped Harry, who quickly moved out of the way, and then right behind him was a nervous looking Elara.

"Hello, Lara, dear," Molly said warmly. "It's lovely to see you," 

"Oh, uhm, hello, Molly," Elara said, giving her a small wave before waving to, Arthur,, Ron, and Ginny. "I'm sorry-" 

Before she could say anything else, the twins glomped her, causing her to let out a squeak.

"La-La!" They cried out as they hugged the girl tightly, both of them nuzzling her. "We've missed you!"

Elara smiled, wrapping her arms around each boy, suddenly feeling a wave of tears build up in her eyes. "I've missed you, too…" she said softly. 

And she had. She just didn't realize by how much she did until she had come to the Weasley's after so long. 

The twins looked up at each other, hearing the emotion in Elara's voice, nodding to each other, and they both placed a soft kiss to her cheek, causing Harry to say.

"Don't kiss my sister!" 

Of course, this time it was teasing rather than serious. He knew the twins were just trying to comfort his sister and it wasn't anything more than a brotherly kiss on the cheek rather than romantic.

They were far too young for any of that. 

The Weasley twins grinned at Harry before placing another kiss to her cheek once more, then sticking their tongues out at Harry. They stood up, Fred taking Lara’s right hand, George her left. 

“Come on, La-La!” They chimed in. “We’ve got something for you!” 

They all but dragged Elara towards the stairs, heading up to the twins shared room. Inside, to the untrained eye, or those who didn’t know the twins, their room was a mess. But Elara knew better. The twins had an organized chaos that made perfect sense to them, and they could find everything quite quickly. 

...though the bright colored boxers on the floor probably weren’t part of that. 

“Whoops!” Fred said, the tips of the twins ears turning slightly pink as they scooped up their dirty clothes, tossing them in the hamper. 

Elara just smiled at the twins, shaking her head with a giggle, and she couldn’t help but go over to George, wrapping her arms around his middle, her face buried in his chest. George wrapped his arms around the young witch’s shoulders, hugging her tightly. While they were hugging, Fred went over to a small corner of their room, pulling up the floorboard, digging around in there before pulling out a dark purple drawstring bag. 

He stood up after he placed the floorboard back, raising a brow as his brother and best friend were still hugging. “Really? Why does Georgie get the longer hugs? La-La doesn’t love me!” He fake whined, sniffling slightly, pretending to wipe away some tears. 

Elara looked up from her hug from George, who shot Fred a mock glare. “Well, it’s not my fault she wanted to be with her favorite twin,” 

“Actually, if that was the case, I’d be with Harry,” Elara quipped, causing George to let out a dramatic gasp, his hand going to his heart.    
  
“Wounded! Simply wounded!” 

“And here we have a gift for her and everything, and what does she do?” Fred said with a sniff. 

“Insult us!” George said, going to his brother, pretending to sob on his shoulder. 

“Say she doesn’t love us!” Fred cried, holding onto his twin. 

“I never said that,” Elara said, a little amused with the theatrics. 

“You said I wasn’t your favorite!” George said, his voice a little muffled. “That’s close enough!” 

“Well, you can’t honestly say I’m your favorite twin, either,” Elara pointed out. “Not compared to your own twin,” 

“You’re our favorite female twin we know!” Fred chirped, and George nodded eagerly in agreement. 

“And you’re my favorite red-headed, brown eyed twins,” Elara said with a smile. 

“Come on, now, that’s a cop out,” George said with a frown, though the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, betraying his amusement. 

“Sorry, guys, not choosing one of you,” Elara said. “I love you both equally. And you didn’t have to get me anything,” 

“Well, this is just more from our secret stash of candy,” Fred explained. “You know, the real good stuff,” 

“Yeah, Harry told us you’re having a bad week, so we want to do something to help cheer you up a little bit,” George said with a firm nod. 

Elara’s smile faltered a little bit, and the twins quickly exchanged looks, and Fred grabbed her hand, leading her to his bed, the two sitting down, and George joining them. The Weasley twins exchanged looks, both agreeing to drop the subject...for now. Fred opened the bag, pulling out a wrapped candy, handing Elara one, George one, and then one for himself. 

“Okay, these will either make you sound like an object or an animal!” George said to Elara, wanting to reassure her this wasn’t a prank item. They had made a promise and they were going to keep it. 

Elara nodded. She had had these before with not only the twins, but her family. Last time she ended up getting a monkey. She unwrapped her wrapper, staring at the blue ball in front of her, hesitating for a moment, but only a moment. The twins had promised and from what she knew, they had never purposely broken a promise to her before. 

Once she popped it into her mouth, the sweetness took over her before suddenly it was quite cooling, there was a slight tang of salt, and she chewed it thoughtfully. 

“Well?” George asked, curious to what she got. 

She opened her mouth to reply, but what came out was a noise of a dolphin, and she blinked before letting out a laugh, and she made the noise once more. 

“Wicked!” The twins cheered, laughing as well.    
  
“Never heard the dolphin one before,” Fred said with a grin, unwrapping his to reveal a deep red candy ball, and he popped it into his own mouth. Like Elara’s, sweetness took him before a smokey flavor happened, with a hint of sweet spice. He opened his mouth, and a loud dragon roar escaped him, smoke coming out of his nostrils. A smirk came to him, and he stood up, holding his arms out as he ‘flew’ across the room, roaring still, causing Elara and George to laugh at him, clapping their hands. 

Fred blew out a smoke ring to Elara before the candy wore off, jumping back on his bed, giving George a grin. “Your turn, Georgie!” 

George unwrapped his candy, a dark green one, and he popped it into his mouth, blinking once the sweetness disappeared at the...sharpness of the candy. He hadn’t had something like this before, and he wasn’t quite sure what he was going to get.

A rumbling feeling was building up in him, and George frowned slightly. He hoped he didn’t get a bad one. They were pretty good at eating the candy before it went bad, but sometimes one did escape them. Wouldn’t be good for the cheering up Elara plan. 

“George?” Elara asked, tilting her head, her hand resting on his shoulder. “You okay or is the candy defective?” 

George opened his mouth to reply when a soft purring sound escaped him. Fred just burst out laughing, giving George a grin. “Aww! Widdle Georgie Weorgie is a widdle kitten!” He said in baby talk. 

George narrowed his eyes at his brother, a small growl growing before it turned into a strange growly roar. Fred blinked and Elara let out a laugh.    
  
“Thinking he is some type of big cat, not a kitten, Fred,” She pointed out with a giggle. 

George grinned, leaning down to press his cheek to Lara’s, nuzzling her again gently as he purred loudly, causing Elara to giggle again. 

The three friends spent a while longer swapping candy, talking, laughing, generally just catching up with each other, when a knock on the door interrupted them. “Come in!” George chirped. 

Harry opened the door, smiling as he saw his sister with a grin on her features. That was the magic of the Weasley twins; they never failed to make someone smile when they really needed it, his sister especially. “We’re going to play some Quidditch, do you guys wanna come?” 

“Heck yeah!” The three friends cheered, the twins standing up and offering Elara their hands to help her up. 

“We’ll be down in a minute,” The twins told Elara, who nodded, knowing they wanted to hide their stash without Harry knowing where it was. 

“Meet you at the pitch,” Harry said with a nod. “I already went ahead and got our brooms,” 

“Thanks, Harry,” Elara said. It had taken a bit of persuasion, but their mother had finally caved to let her twins get some adult brooms, though they had a lot promises attached to it. No flying them without either one of their parents, Molly, Arthur, Uncles, Bill, Charlie, or Percy being near by, or an adult in general. If no one was home, it was the big kid brooms they had or nothing. 

The other was they wouldn’t go too high, either, unless someone who could legally do magic was there, just in case. 

At first, the Potter twins were a little upset with the rules, but then, after some whining to each other, they both realized how little they were left alone. There was always someone at the house, mostly their mother, because she was working on getting her Potion Master degree. If their parents were going to be gone longer than just a couple of hours, they were sent to the Weasley’s. Arthur was always home at a decent time, and with Molly being a stay at home mum, she was always there. Bill was around during the weekends more often than not, since he was just in training to be a Curse Breaker, which is when they were able to fly around and actually play more on the weekends anyway. 

The Potter twins made their way down the stairs, where the rest of the Weasley clan were waiting. As they approached, Molly frowned. “Where are the twins?” 

“They needed to use the bathroom,” Elara said. She normally didn’t really approve of lying, but this was a small one, and she didn’t want the twins’s stash to be discovered. Besides, no one got hurt. 

Molly nodded in understanding before turning to her children. “Be careful while you lot are flying, alright? Your father had to run by the Ministry for a quick meeting, and Ginny and I will be out in the garden,” 

“Mummy! Why can’t I go flying too! That’s not fair!” Ginny whined. 

“Because, young lady, I saw you sneak off to take one of your brother’s brooms and go flying while no one was there to watch you!” Molly scolded. “No flying for you for two weeks!” 

“Sorry, Ginny,” Elara said with a small smile. “Once you can fly again, we’ll play a game with you,” 

Ginny let out a hmph but she nodded to Elara. Molly took her daughter’s hand, leading her out the door and towards the family’s big garden. Bill looked to the other kids. “Alright, ;et’s just go ahead and head out. The twins can meet us,” 

The children all nodded, grabbing their brooms, Ron frowning as he took Bill’s old one, as Bill had been gifted a new one from his parents once he had made Head Boy his final year. 

Meanwhile, the twins had put up their stash and looked to each other. “Alright, I reckon we got a good five minutes before mum suspects us for taking to long, depending on Elara’s excuse,” Fred said. 

“Fred, you sure it’s a good idea to play a prank with La-La here?” George asked with a frown. He was itching to play something, see if it could make her laugh, but...it did add a risk that she would run into before their intended target. 

“Hey, Harry even said so himself! She likes pranks,” Fred pointed out. “And we’d know the prank and be able to run interference if she’s about to walk into it. It’ll be fine, Georgie. Besides, I was thinking of Ron, anyway,” 

“Maybe Bill,” George pointed out. “We’ve been pranking Ron a bit much lately...he’s starting to get suspicious of everything,” 

“Fair point,” Fred said with a nod. “Only problem with that is…” 

“His Curse Breaker training is making him aware of a lot of things,” Fred and George said with a sigh. There are to be someone they could prank. 

Their mum was out; last time they pranked her, they had ruined a pie she had been making and she grounded them for two weeks. 

Ginny was out, at least, until she got a little older; their mum lost their marbles when they pranked her, and sometimes Ginny could be a little vicious. 

La-La was out, for obvious reasons. 

Could they prank Harry? ...no, bad idea. With what was going on with Lara, they were sure Harry was going to be keeping a close eye on Lara and stick close, unless she was with them. So that meant they would be joined at the hip. Too easy for Lara to get backlash. 

“...we really just have Bill or Ron,” Fred sighed. 

“Flip a coin?” George offered. 

“...why don’t we just do the classic Muggle trick?” Fred said instead. “Bucket of slime on top of the door?” 

“...well, the only downside is mum or Ginny get it, depending on what they’re doing,” George said with a frown. “We’d be able to see part of the yard from our little pitch so...we could fly over and deal with it, if that happens,” 

“Or...we play for a little bit, ask Ron and Bill to get us drinks,” Fred said, snapping his fingers. “With so many of us, he could use magic to lift some of the glasses, so it makes on why he’d go,” 

“Then why would Ron go?” George pointed out. 

“...cause mum would lose it if she thinks they’re abusing magic? Or maybe we have Ron grab us a snack,” 

“We just finished breakfast and had some candy,” 

“We’re growing boys, Georgie! And so is Ron, have you seen him eat? It’s like he thinks mum is gonna starve him,” 

George let out a bark of laughter. It was true their youngest brother had the biggest appetite of them all. “Good point. We probably wouldn’t have to say much of anything else besides snack and he’d go running,” 

“And while one of us gets the bucket on the door, the other can sneak out a window, pretending to walk off,” Fred said. “And the other is on his way down,” 

“Bathroom?” George asked. “For where the other one is,” 

“Best idea we got,” Fred said. “I mean, even if La-La used a different excuse, one cannot help when the call to nature happens,” 

“This is a true statement,” George nodded. “And one of the rare times no one expects us to be together. Cause-”    
  
“Bathroom time is one’s private time,” The twins chimed together with a grin. 

“Okay, we wasted a minute,” George said as he looked to a clock on their wall. “Let’s get going,” 

It took another minute for them to fill the bucket with the green slime, and the twins hurried downstairs. “Sure you don’t need me?” George asked. 

“Just need you out the door and leave it cracked for me,” Fred said with a nod. “And to make sure mum doesn’t get suspicious,” 

“Got it,” George nodded, sneaking out the door, leaving it cracked as Fred had asked. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, whistling cheerfully. 

“Fred?” He heard his mother call. 

“George, mum!” He called back. Sometimes it did hurt that their mum couldn’t tell them apart in some instances, but it hurt less considering there were times she even got Bill and Charlie, even Percy, mixed up. It mostly tended to happen when there were a lot of people around, so George figured it was just so many people in one place, and so much red hair, that sounds and images blended together. 

And in this case, it didn’t hurt much, cause he was a bit further away. Even Lara, who could tell them apart easily, sometimes struggled once they were further out of sight. 

Truthfully, and this was something they had never really told their friend, but when Harry and Lara both had hats on, and they couldn’t see their hair color, and Harry’s glasses were off, they couldn’t tell who was who once they were further away either. Mostly cause they had a similar build. 

Which was why they didn’t tell Lara that. No girl wants to hear they have a boy’s body, even when you’re nine. 

And people thought the twins were clueless. 

“Oh, sorry, dear,” Molly said with a smile. “Where’s your brother?”    
  
“Bathroom!” George chirped loudly. He wasn’t too far from the door, but he had figured out an idea to buy Fred a bit of time, if he needed it. “Said he thought he had to poop,”

“Ah,” Molly said with a nod, unfazed, while Ginny just sighed, and George shrugged. “Anyway, the kids went down to the pitch already,” Molly told her son. 

“Thanks, mum!” George said, walking towards the pitch, still whistling cheerfully. A few minutes later, Fred caught up with him, giving him a glare.

“Now what am I going to do if I really do need to take a dump later?” 

“Hey, going more than once is the sign of a good digestive track,” George chirped. “Heard Lily tell Sirius that when he went three times one day,” 

“...you’re aware of Sirius’s dump habits?” Fred asked with a raised brow. 

“...yes, Freddie, my day is never complete until I know how many times Sirius has pooped in a day,” George rolled his eyes. “He sends me a letter every evening to let me know. No, I was getting juice for us one day at the Potter’s and overheard them,” 

Fred laughed, nudging his brother with his elbow, George returning the favor. They finally arrived at their makeshift Pitch, giving everyone a grin. 

“Dibs on La-La!” George cheered, quickly going over and linking his arm through hers. 

“Dibs on Bill and Harry, then!” Fred chirped. 

“Aww, I wanted to be on Harry’s team,” Ron groaned. 

“We love you too, Ron,” Elara said with a shake of her head. 

“We’ll switch teams after a few games, make it fair,” Bill said with a nod. “Now let’s play!” 

An hour passed, and the group landed on the ground, wanting a small break. “Hey, Bill, Ron,” George said. “Why don’t you guys get us some drinks and some snacks?” 

“And why aren’t you going?” Bill asked with a raise brow. 

“Well, if you’re getting us something, you’ll need to get mum and Ginny something,” Fred pointed out. “That’s eight people, and one person can’t carry all that in one go,”    
  
“And you’re the only one besides mum and dad that can use magic, and dad’s still not here,” George continued. 

“So it’s gotta be you to help,” They confirmed. 

“I could do with something,” Ron confirmed, and the twins had to hold back a smirk.

“Ron, you just had breakfast,” Bill said. “We all did,” 

“Hey, we just played a mean game of Quidditch,” Ron said. “That works up an appetite,” 

“And we’re growing boys, Bill!” Fred said. “We need more food!” 

“...what are you two up to?” Bill asked as his eyes narrowed. That was probably the good thing about his training, and knowing his brothers. He was starting to spot dodgy moments or objects. 

Fred and George exchanged a look, silently communicating with themselves before turning to Bill. “Fine, you caught us,” George said. 

“We figured you’d be more willing to get the good snacks than the celery and carrots mum will probably insist on us having,” Fred said. 

“Pleeeease?!” The twins whined to their eldest brother, trying to pull out the puppy dog eyes, causing Elara to giggle. The twins and looking innocent was just too funny. 

Bill rolled his eyes, fighting back his own laugh. “Okay, okay. Could’ve just asked straight up, though, not try to trick me,” 

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Fred said. “Remember, we were stuck with Percy for a few years while you guys were in school, and he’s a sticular for the rules. The good snacks were only for special occasions,” 

“Hey, nothing wrong with that,” Bill said. “Helped him not lose a bunch of points for Gryffindor. But, come on, Ron, let’s go get the drinks and snacks,” 

The two headed back to the house, leaving the two sets of twins alone, who began to talk about Quidditch. Within a few minutes, Elara felt herself actually needing to use the bathroom, and the twins and Harry were talking so animatedly, that she just quietly broke off from the group, following the path Bill and Ron took. When she arrived back at the house, she saw that Bill and Ron were talking to Molly and Ginny, probably asking them what they wanted to drink. 

So, she approached the door, tilting her head as she saw it open a crack. Must’ve been Fred or George again. Sometimes they got a little too excited and didn’t shut the door all the way, or Ginny left it open by accident. So with a shrug, Elara opened the door fully, stepping inside. 

“LARA NOOOO!” She heard the twins yell, and she blinked in surprise, slowly turning. 

The next few moments happened in slow motion for the Weasley twins. Lara had opened the door, turned to look at them curiously, and slowly the slime was in the scene, hitting her square on the head as more of it poured out, covering the poor girl. 

Everyone was silent for a moment, Fred and George feeling a rush of guilt and remorse, especially as they slowly watched as Elara’s expression dropped, tears appearing in her eyes, and she turned on her feet, sprinting away from everyone, off into the field that surrounded the Weasley’s land. 

“I ASKED YOU TWO TO DO ONE THING!” Harry roared, which is what broke the twins out of their stupor. “DON’T PRANK ELLIE! YOU TWO EVEN PROMISED!”    
  
“We weren’t aiming for her!” Fred said quickly, bringing his hands up. “We were trying-” 

“I DON’T CARE!” Harry roared again. “You better be thankful my sister needs me right now, else I would smash your head in!” With that, Harry turned on his heel, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he looked up to see George. 

“Harry, you’ve got a right to be angry at us, but can we go and find her to apologize?” George asked. “If she doesn’t want to see us, or be anywhere near us, we’ll send for you,” 

“Yeah, Harry, we really need to apologize,” Fred said quickly, a little surprised at how brave George was being. Normally when Harry exploded like this, you found Lara, or you backed away slowly until he burnt himself out. “Please, mate,” 

Harry was still seething, glaring at the twins. He didn’t really want them to go, but they made a good point. And it was rare for the Weasley twins to apologize for a prank. “Fine. But no trying to make her listen if she says no first, got it?!” 

“Got it,” The twins said with a nod before taking off down the path Lara had taken. 

“Should’ve listened to you,” Fred said as they ran. “You were right, too many risks of her walking into it,” 

“No, I should’ve been more firm on not doing it,” George said with a shake of his head. “We’re both equally guilty,” 

The two fell silent as they ran after their best friend, stopping when they spotted her near the lake further away from their house, their hearts clenching in their chest when they heard Lara’s sobs. They quickly made their way over, not caring about their own clothes as they swooped in next to hear, hugging her tightly. 

“We’re so sorry, La-La,” They said softly. “That wasn’t meant for you, it was for Ron or Bill,” 

Lara continued to just cry into her hands, and Fred bit his lip. “Honestly, La-La, as soon as we saw you were missing, we took off to find you. We never meant for you to be involved in it,” 

“But we shouldn’t have done it anyway, not like that,” George said. “Or we should’ve told you and Harry as soon as Bill and Ron left, so you guys would know not to enter the house,” 

“We’re so sorry…” They said together again. “Do you want us to go and get Harry?” 

Elara just shook her head. “I kn-know,” Elara cried. “Y-you guys h-have never pu-purposely broken a prom-promise to me before,” 

“Then what’s wrong?” George asked, silently hoping maybe she’d actually tell them what’s going on. It was clear it was affecting her more than what she was letting on. 

“I’m just so tired of this,” Elara cried. 

“La-La, just tell us,” Fred said softly. “We’ll listen to you and help, if we can,” 

And finally, Elara just broke. She couldn’t keep it in any longer, and she told her best friends about the girl and her friends in school, all the things she had done to her, all the notes destroyed, all her art projects, her normal doodles. The pranks, all the kids laughing at her, mocking her. 

As Elara talked, Fred and George both felt their anger come to the surface again. What that girl was doing was cruel, especially since she was giving pranksters a bad name, and hurting their La-La in the process. 

“Lara…” George said softly once she was finished, rubbing soft circles on her back soothingly. “You gotta tell your parents,”    
  
“Or tell ours if you don’t think you can,” Fred said. “You can’t let her continue like this…” 

“I know but…” Elara said softly, sniffling. “It’s so...embarrassing, frustrating, and just...hard…” 

“It’s not a weakness to admit you need some help, Lara,” Fred said with a smile. “Especially in something like this,” 

“Yeah, it shows your strong enough to admit you need help,” George said with a nod. 

“Besides, with bullying, you need to tell someone who can help do something about it, to make sure it doesn’t happen again, so they can keep an eye out, and make sure you and this...Patricia stay far away from each other,” Fred said with a firm nod. 

“I...guess…” Elara sniffled. 

“We know,” The twins said with a firm nod. 

“If you want, we’ll be there with you when you tell them,” George offered. “Hold on to your hand, someone can hold your shoulders, since Harry’s gonna want a hand,” 

“...you guys would?” Elara asked softly. It helped and made her feel better knowing that they’d be there as support. 

“Of course” They chirped. 

“We’ll be there for you, Lara,” George said.

“Anytime,” Fred said.

“Anywhere,” George said. 

“No matter how big,” Fred said.

“Or small!” George said.

“Because you’re our best friend in the entire world!” They chimed in together. 

A new wave of tears wet Elara’s cheeks, a warmth growing in her chest. “Thanks, guys...you’re my best friends too…” 

The twins stood up, standing in front of Elara, their hands outstretched. “Come on,” George smiled at her. “Let’s get mum to clean us up and then you can decide to tell her what’s going on, or we’ll go to your place so you can tell Lily and James,” 

Elara smiled back, though it was a little weak, taking their hands in hers. She was still nervous about telling everyone what was going on, but her soul did feel a bit lighter since her best friends knew, and were offering her their unwavering support. 

She’d get through this, with them and her brother by her side. 

“Don’t worry, La-La,” George said as he smiled at the girl.

“Everything will be okay!” Fred said, smiling at her as well.

And Elara believed them. 


	5. The Prank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I will say this. my updates will be slow for a while until I get my vacation time. Enjoy!

To say Fred and George were angry, would be an understatement. To say they were furious, even more so. What the Weasley’s twins were...was livid. 

They hadn’t heard anything from Lara for a few days since them and Harry went to the Potter home to offer Lara moral support to tell her parents about what was happening with a girl named Patricia Green, who was bullying their best friend. They didn’t know how these things worked in the Muggle world, but Lily had told them it might take a few days to get everything together, because they needed all the teachers, the principal, and both parents and the girls. Since they didn’t live at the school, it needed to be organized so it fit everyone’s schedule. 

But that wasn’t why they were livid, oh no. They understood that, once it was explained. What they were livid about was the fact Lara just dropped the bomb on what happened and what the girl’s punishment was for the bullying and harassment. 

“Just a few detentions?!” Fred roared. 

“That’s outrageous!” George bellowed. 

“She destroyed her things!” 

“Verbally berated her!” 

“Would shove her!” 

“She!” They tried to say together.

“I KNOW, I WAS THERE!” Lara shouted back at them before sighing. “They said because of the lack of evidence, they can’t do much about it, but the teachers did agree that some of her comments could be quite harsh, and that there were a few times in art class that our teacher had a suspicion that Patricia “tripped” and spilled paint or markers or ripped my drawings” Lara said with air quotes. “But could never prove it. Of course, her friends were brought in, and so was Harry, but they denied it, while Harry swore he saw and heard some of it. He even tried to talk to some people who told him, but they’re scared they’ll turn to them, too,” 

“Fat lot that did, the cowards,” Harry mumbled, crossing his arms angrily.

“Harry, her parents are pretty influential,” Elara sighed. “And they make a lot of donations to the school. I don’t blame the school for wanting more proof, nor do I blame the others for not wanting to step up. Seeing what I went through…” 

“You would, though,” Harry protested. “If it was the other way around,” And the twins nodded eagerly in agreement. 

“Well, yeah, though I think I’d probably just ask for a separate meeting,” Elara said. “Ask to remain anonymous. But I also know I’m leaving this school in three years, so it isn’t really a big deal to me. Most other students don’t have that luxury,” 

The group fell silent after that, suddenly hearing the angry shouts of Molly Weasley. “Guess Mum told her the news,” Elara said with a small smile. She had told her parents that it was okay to tell the Weasley’s though she didn’t want to be there for it. It was hard enough to tell her parents, Uncle Sirius, and Uncle Remus. 

Molly and Arthur were out of the question. 

“Always a nice change of pace when Mum is yelling about someone else,” Fred joked, trying to lighten the mood, even though his anger was still burning bright flames. This girl shouldn’t be allowed to get away with what she did, but how would he and George help get revenge? They needed some time to think, but the biggest problem with that was…

They didn’t have much time. It was early spring, which meant summer vacation was just around the corner. No school, no way to be able to get revenge on the girl who hurt their La-La so. 

They’d figure something out in time. They always did. 

“Yeah...you guys should’ve seen Mum and Uncle Sirius once we got home,” Harry said with a shudder. “Dad wasn’t happy about it, you could tell, but Dad and Uncle Remus were trying to keep them calm and to stop them from going back and hexing them. Well, Uncle Sirius was threatening it, Mum was just saying she would give the girl’s parents a nice talking to,” 

George couldn’t help but snort. The Weasley twins were well aware that Harry and Elara got their temper from their mother. A talking to was a nice way of putting yell at them. 

Though it was obvious that Lara got James’s fuse length, while Harry got Lily and Sirius’s. 

The shouts continued, and Elara suddenly felt uncomfortable. She was thankful that they asked the Weasley’s to come their house instead to tell the news. They hadn’t told the other Weasley children yet, since she asked to wait until Charlie’s and Percy’s letters got back from the news. She had wanted to wait until they were home, but George and Fred had pointed out that it would mean less support, since by the time they were home, it would be summer. 

She was nervous was Charlie and Percy would say, not that she thought they wouldn’t be supportive. Just...Charlie was pretty relaxed until you made him mad, and Elara wasn’t sure about Percy anymore. He changed on them slightly, though she was sure he would be just as angry about it as well, though he might be more upset she didn’t confide in him either. 

Percy was quite confusing, out of all the Weasley’s. 

“Could...we go to the playroom and play something?” She asked softly. 

The twins and Harry quickly looked to Elara, instantly nodding their heads. “Sure thing, La-La,” Fred chirped. “Anything you feel like playing?” 

Elara shook her head. She just wanted to play something and forget what was going on, even if it was just for a little while. 

A few hours passed before the Weasley matriarch called for her children, and the Weasley twins stood up, along with the Potter’s, exchanging hugs and goodbyes, and Fred smiled at Elara, tugging her hair gently. “Don’t worry, La-La. She’ll get what’s coming to her one day,” 

“Yeah,” George said with a nod. “Besides, maybe one of those kids will think like you and go when she isn’t there to say what happened,” 

“Here’s hoping…” Elara said with a small smile. “See you guys this weekend,” 

“See you then!” The twins chirped, waving to their friends before heading back downstairs to their parents. The Weasley’s said goodbye to the Potter’s before Flooing home, and their Mum got started on dinner, while Fred and George went upstairs to their room, shutting the door. 

“What’s the plan?” George asked. “There’s no way we’re letting her get off practically scotch free,” 

“No idea, George,” Fred said with a frown. “This is probably going to be the trickiest prank to pull yet. Only place we can do it is at their school, which we know very little about…” 

“Not to mention time restraints, and a deadline,” George said with a nod. “And that there will be people around, and we can’t use any of our normal magic gear from Zonko’s, unless it wears off quite quickly,” 

“Which is the majority of our stock,” Fred agreed with a sigh, falling silent for a few moments before humming thoughtfully. “Hate to say it, George, but...we might need to get some help for this one,” 

“I think we can stand to get some help if it means this girl getting her just desserts,” George said with a firm nod. “Harry would totally help us, plus he knows the school,” 

“Sirius would probably be willing to help,” Fred said with a nod. “Depending on what the plan is. Plus, having someone who can do magic without getting in trouble will be a huge help,” 

“I’d say Remus but…” George said with an exaggerated wince. 

“Yeah, no,” Fred said with a shake of his head. “Remus is awesome and everything but…” 

“Sirius is the fun uncle,” The twins said at the same time. 

“Okay, so this weekend, one of us will pull Harry aside, and the other will distract La-La,” Fred said with a nod. “We’ll get some information and go from there. We got about...a month before school is done for the summer. Gotta get it done before then,” 

“We got this, Freddie,” George said with a firm nod. “We’re doing it for La-La,” 

“Damn right,” Fred said with a firm nod, holding his hand and his brother clasped his hand in his for a few moments. 

“FRED!” Their mum shouted.

The twins jumped, Fred’s eyes going wide. “There’s no way she could hear me from up here!” Fred whispered quickly. 

“FRED!” She shouted again.

“Yes, Mum?!” Fred called back. 

“Could you go out to the garden and grab me a few tomatoes?! And ask George to go to the coop to get me some eggs?!” 

Fred let out a sigh of relief. That had been a close one. “Yes mum!” 

It took the Weasley twins about two and a half weeks to get everything planned to perfection. As they had thought, Harry and Sirius were quick to jump in to help them figure out a way to get back at this Patricia, and helped them figure out the best timing. In an added bonus, they had figured out an even better way to cheer Lara up, and it came at a great time! Apparently there was this big test coming up in the morning the day after they’re going to do the prank, so they could help encourage her too!

Plus, it gave them a good alibi, besides Sirius being there to help provide one, but still. 

Now it was just getting their Mum to let them go…

“Fred, George?” Molly asked at dinner, a small frown on her features. Her twins were usually quite rowdy, but the past few days they had been rather quiet, even while they were eating. “Is everything alright? You’ve been rather quiet here lately…” 

The twins looked up from their meal, sharing a glance. They had been so busy trying to go over the final details of their plan that they forgot they needed to not draw attention.

‘Actually, this might work well.’ Fred read on George’s features. 

‘I’ll follow your lead.’ Fred returned with a barely there nod. 

“Yeah, Mum, we’re alright,” George said, moving some peas on his plate, looking down again. 

“Are you two getting sick?” Molly asked. 

“No, Mum,” Fred said, looking down at his own plate, curious to where George was going with this. His brother was always really good at moments like these, sometimes thinking of things that Fred wouldn’t have thought of. It was one reason why they made the best team. “We’re perfectly healthy,” 

Molly’s frown deepened, and even their other children and Arthur were looking at the twins. Bill was actually wondering if this was a set up to something, but at the same time...there was this air about them that seemed...off. And not in their normal way when they had something planned. 

“There’s something going on, though,” Bill said. “You two look like someone kicked a puppy in front of you,” 

George let out a sigh, placing his fork down on the table before leaning back against his chair, looking up at the ceiling for several moments before looking back down at the table. “It’s...just…”

“Yes, son?” Arthur said, trying to coax his twins to tell them what was wrong.

“It’s La-La,” George said finally, glancing up at his parents. “We’re worried about her. We thought with school almost being done, she’d be a lot more perky and happy but…” 

“She kinda...isn’t,” Fred picked up. Actually, he was seeing George’s point now, and they weren’t even lying. La-La had been a bit more withdrawn again, though she still came over. “We think this Patricia girl might be getting a bit worse to her, or doing something…” 

“Yeah,” George said with a nod. “I mean, we know some of it is because she has this big test coming up, but it’s just…” 

“We’ve been wanting to cheer her up somehow,” Fred said. 

“So we’ve just been trying to think of some ideas,” They finished together. 

Molly nodded. That made more sense on why they had been quiet lately, though she was still appalled that the school still didn’t do much more for punishments. “That’s sweet of you, dears,” She told them with a smile. 

“Any ideas?” Bill asked. With how creative his younger brothers were he’d be shocked if they didn’t. 

“We...might have an idea,” George said, hesitating for a moment before looking to their Mum. “Mum, after dinner, could Fred and I talk to you and dad alone?” 

Molly and Arthur blinked, glancing at each other before looking to the twins with a nod. “Of course,” Molly answered. 

The twins nodded, turning their attention back to their meal. Soon dinner was finished, dishes placed in the sink, and Molly casted a quick cleaning spell before her, Arthur, and the twins stood up, heading outside where it would be harder for them to be overheard. 

“Sorry about dragging you out,” George said. “We just...kinda need your permission for this, and while we trust Bill, Ron and Ginny aren’t great about keeping secrets. Or...well, Ginny verbally keeps them, but she starts acting weird around the person…” 

Molly and Arthur raised a brow at this. It wasn’t..rare, per say, that their twins asked for permission to do things; there were some things they knew that they had to let their parents know about first. However, when it came to these ideas, they were more beg forgiveness than permission. 

“See, George and I were really trying to think of something, and we just...well, we had ideas, but it didn’t seem good enough. Not enough to cheer her up and to keep her mood up, you know?” Fred said. 

“And then we had this idea, mostly thanks to something we heard Harry say,” George said. Really, this was when things were going to get tricky...they were going to be bending the truth a lot about this, but it couldn’t be too much, or Mum would get suspicious. “See, apparently a lot of the older kids will decorate their friends...lockers? The things where they put their books and bags and stuff,” 

“Like for birthdays, or something,” Fred pipped in.

George nodded to his brother before looking back to his parents. “So we figured...La-La has this test coming up. We’re gonna decorate her locker! Harry and Sirius helped us out with making the shapes of some stuff, and we even got some confetti to come out, the ribbon kind, and all this stuff! And just have little notes saying she can do this, she got this, we love her, all that!” 

“Yeah! And we have this planned out perfectly,” Fred said excitedly. “See, see, since it’s about to be the last week of school, both Harry and La-La’s teams are getting together for one last friendly game. Lily has to deliver a potion for her Master’s, so she’s going to be a little late getting there, and James is too, but they’ll be there. So Sirius is going to be there! We figured since Lara will already get her stuff out-” 

“We can show up, say we just wanted to watch one last game,” George said with a bright smile. “And since we’ll have to go back and forth, La-La won’t be concerned to see us suddenly missing! Harry told us her locker number, and Sirius is going to pretend to take us to the bathroom, where we’ll quickly get everything set up and-” 

“Then in the morning, La-La walks in, her locker all decorated, and she opens it and bam! Love and support! She just has to be happy!” Fred beamed. “And confident!” 

“We just need your permission to go!” They cheered. 

Molly felt warmth build in her chest as she listened to her sons’ plan, feeling so proud of them. While she didn’t approve of them doing some of the pranks they did, she did always appreciate that they just wanted to make people smile and laugh. Especially with something like this. 

“Oh, of course you can go!” Molly said, moving forward to give her sons’ a tight hug, then placing a kiss on each of their cheeks. “Oh, I’m so proud of you! This is such a sweet thing for you to do for Lara! Oh! Could we write a note?” 

“Course, Mum,” George said. 

“When is this plan?” Arthur asked, though he was feeling just as proud of his boys as their mother was. 

“This Thursday,” The twins chimed. “Last test is Friday, and then they get their…” 

They stopped before looking to each other and then their parents.

“It takes a week but then they get their letters?” Fred said.

“But it isn’t letters,” George said with a frown. “What was it La-La called it?” 

“Well, they do get it in the mail, but,” Fred also frowned. “...wasn’t it something card?”

“A report card!” Arthur said suddenly. “I remember James telling me about it,” 

“That!” The twins said with a nod. 

“Wait, this Thursday?” Molly asked, and her boys nodded. “...boys, you realize it’s Tuesday, yes?”

“Yeah, Mum,” George said. “But there was no point in asking until we got all the details worked on and dealt with,”

“Though, we better go write to Sirius to let him know you guys are okay with it,” Fred chirped. “We’ll get you one of the stars to write something on in a minute. We can use Errol, right?” 

“Of course, dears, go, go,” Molly said with a bright smile, motioning them away. The twins gave their mother a bright smile, before turning and running back towards the house. Molly then turned to her husband. 

“Isn’t that just the sweetest and cutest thing you’ve ever heard?” She squealed in excitement. 

“Just about,” Arthur said with a smile. 

The next day passed quickly for the Weasley twins, putting together the final touches on both the pranks they wanted to pull. This was going to be their hardest prank to pull yet, but they were confident they could do it. 

“Think we’re as ready as we’re gonna be, Freddie,” George said that Thursday morning. “We got Mum’s note she wanted us to add, we’ve gone through the plan a million times. Now we just need to do it,” 

“I know, I know,” Fred said with a sigh, leaning back on his bed. “Now I’m just worried about timing. We might end up needing to split up to get everything done in time,” 

“I dunno, Fred,” George said with a thoughtful hum. “What we’re doing to Patricia’s locker shouldn’t take us too long. Compared to what we plan to do with La-La’s, her’s is pretty simple. And as long as there aren’t any Muggles around, Sirius can fix anything with magic,” 

“Yeah, I just hope it doesn’t come to that,” Fred said as he looked to his twin. “I wanna say we did all this ourselves with very little magic,” 

“I know,” George said with a nod. “I do, too, but I think at the end, getting this done is worth it, even if we don’t get to do it exactly how we wanted. Especially to get both done,” 

Fred nodded in agreement. He wanted to teach that girl a lesson, but they did want to cheer up their best friend as well. But then a thought came to him…

“George?”   
“Yeah?”

“If we had to choose one prank and scrap the other, which one would you choose?” 

George frowned thoughtfully, taking a moment to really think about it. Was Fred worried that they weren’t going to be able to do it? “Why do you ask? Do you think we can’t?” 

Fred shook his head. “No, I think we can. Just good to have back ups to back ups, ya know. Never know what could happen, best to have a priority,” 

George nodded, though he bit his lip as he thought about it some more. That was a toss up...and he was torn. On one hand, he really did want to make sure that girl got her just desserts, a little something to get back at how much she had hurt Lara. 

But at the same time...even if they wouldn’t be there to see her reaction when they decorated Lara’s locker, he could just picture it perfectly. He could just see her light up, the smile that would come to her features, and the confidence that would come to her. That even if Patricia tried to do something, nothing would tear her down that day. 

Wasn’t that the main reason they did all this? To make people smile and laugh?

Fred just watched his brother think, not really too surprised at the level of depth George was taking this. Because they played jokes so much, most people wrote them off as not being serious, when they could be when the situation came to them. And, really, Fred appreciated that George was taking this seriously, because it was a serious question. 

And a telling one at that. 

“I know...that with the revenge one, this is the perfect time for,” George finally said, looking at his twin. “We’re leaving for Hogwarts this year, and there won’t be an opportunity like this for us, since our holidays are pretty close together with their school. And I really do want to get some revenge on her, but…

“I think we can do a lot more good with La-La’s,” He continued. “In the long run, ya know? She can keep the notes and put them up in her next locker, since we’ll be gone and can’t visit each other. She’ll have something of ours, and it’ll make her happy. And that’s why we do all this, right? To make people happy and laugh. And I really think right now, after everything, if anyone is deserving of a good smile and laugh, it’s La-La.” 

Fred tilted his head as he listened to his brother’s words, a small smile coming to his features, though there was a faint...bitterness in his heart, but he shoved it away. It was probably just him being jealous over the fact George made a great speech just then, even if they were alone in their room, at the moment. 

“Well said, Georgie,” Fred said with a nod. “That’s why we do it, and our La-La does deserve it,” 

George nodded, giving his brother a smile. “But I’m not worried, Freddie. We’ll get both done so each girl gets what they deserve,” 

“Heck yeah, we will,” Fred said with a grin, holding his hand up, and his brother gave him a high-five. 

“Though now we are at the worst part of any prank,” George said to his brother.

“Yeah,” Fred said with a sigh. “Waiting,” 

What passed for eternity to the twins was finally broken, when they heard their mother call that Sirius was here. They quickly grabbed their bag, which they were going to keep even after this was over, as Sirius had put an extention charm on it to carry everything for both pranks. They had made sure that Patricia’s stuff was on the bottom, and Lara’s was on top, in case their Mum wanted to check. 

Once they made it downstairs, Molly looked to them with a smile. “Do you have everything you need?” She asked softly, and the twins nodded eagerly. 

It was an interesting experience to have their Mum approve of something, and actually try to help. She had changed some of the confetti to big star shapes, so it wasn’t just going to be ribbon shaped. 

“Got everything,” Fred said with a grin, patting his bag. “Streamers, stars, notes, tape, scissors, extra paper, and we got the pictures of us that Sirius gave us that Lily took on a Muggle camera!” 

“And the few ones that you charmed to stop moving at the right time,” Fred grinned. “We’ll tell La-La so she can decide if she wants to keep them like that, or charm them back, once it’s done,” 

“Okay,” Molly said with a nod and a smile. “Oh, I so wish you could take a picture of what it looks like…” 

“I’m sure La-La will be happy to tell you in great detail, Mum,” George said with a grin. 

“We do need to get going, though,” Sirius said for the first time, glancing down at his watch. He could guess the twins didn’t tell Molly about part two of their plan...not that he was going to tell her anyway. He hadn’t even told James or Lily about this, either. Though, really, it wasn’t his place, even if some may argue that it was, as an adult. 

Well, he’d argue that the other adults should’ve put a stop to this a while ago. Plus, there were some lessons a kid needed to learn, and if the adults weren’t going to help. Well, sometimes a kid had to do what a kid had to do.

Besides the fact he had also done much worse in his youth than what Fred and George had planned. 

“Okay, bye boys, have fun,” Molly said, giving her sons a quick hug. 

“We will!” They chimed before looking to Sirius. “How are we gettin’ there?” 

“Gotta apparate,” Sirius said. “Lily said she’ll get the car on her way back so it doesn’t seem weird to the Muggles. We just need to tell them, if any ask, that Lily dropped us off and needed to run a quick errand,” 

“Yeah, we’d like to actually get there in one piece,” Fred grinned at Sirius, who rolled his eyes. 

Because he didn’t get much practice, Sirius wasn’t the...best driver in the family. He tended to be more of a last resort. He had been trying to practice, but lately, because of work, he hadn’t had much time. 

“Oh haha,” Sirius said with a mock sigh. “Can’t wait till you two try driving, see how well you do,” 

“I can already tell we’ll be better than you,” George said with a grin, causing Sirius to reach out and tweak his nose. 

“Believe it when I see it,” He said simply. “Hands!” 

The Weasley twins went to Sirius’s sides, taking his hands in theirs. 

“Bye, mum!” They cheered before they vanished. 

Once they landed in a little area away from the school, the Weasley twins leaned against a wall, trying to get their stomachs under control. 

“Ugh,” Fred said.

George let out a grunt in agreement. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it,” Sirius said cheerfully. “Eventually,” 

“Hoping sooner rather than later,” Fred said, his stomach settling some. “It seems fun, but I’d rather not have stomach pains every time,” 

“Just depends,” Sirius said with a shrug. “Some people never get used to it, some people take a while longer, some take just a few tries. Now, we better head off so we can meet Lara on the softball field,” 

“What about Harry’s football game?” Fred asked as they followed Sirius towards the school. 

“His coach is running a little late, so he’s going to be with his teammates on the football field,” Sirius said with a shrug. “So her game is probably starting first, or maybe they’ll wait a little to give him time so they both end at the same time. Who knows?” 

It took several minutes, and Sirius making a wrong turn somewhere, that they finally made it to the softball field. Sirius looked at the twins. “The football field is just down there,” He said, pointing to something a lot further away. “I’m going to let Harry know we’re here, so why don’t you surprise Lara?” 

“Will do!” The Weasley twins chimed together, giving him a playful salute turning and walking closer towards the field. Soon, they spotted their target, thanks to the jersey on her back with big white letters reading Potter and a giant number six. Her hair was up in a ponytail through the opening of her softball cap, and in front of her was a girl with strawberry blond hair. Because Elara’s back was towards them, they couldn’t see her expression, but they could see the blonde’s. 

And it was in a sneer. 

“Who’s that?” George asked with narrowed eyes. 

“Dunno, but I can already tell I don’t like her,” Fred said, the grip on the bag tightening. 

“Best we go introduce ourselves then, huh?” George said, looking to his twin with a devious grin. 

“I do love the way you think, Georgie,” Fred grinned back.

They may not be able to protect Elara from Patricia, but they could do something with the girl in front of them now! 

The two quickly sped walked over, and as they got closer, the sneer on the girl’s features left, a small flicker of confusion before it led to a small smirk, and she walked past Elara to look at the twins. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen you two around here,” She said. “I think I would remember two boys as cute-”

“La-La!” They cheered as they walked right past her, and Elara blinked before turning to see the Weasley twins right in front of her. 

“Fred? George? What are you doing here?” Elara asked, though there was a bright smile coming to her features. It was always a treat to get surprised by her best friends.

Well...a nice surprise anyway. 

“Surprising you!” They cheered again, moving so they were both her side, pressing a kiss to her cheeks. 

“Elara?” The girl asked with a strained smile. “Who’re your friends?” 

“Oh, uh…This is Fred and George Weasley,” Elara said. “Guys, this is-” 

“We don’t care,” They chimed in.

“We don’t like girls who are a biotch,” George said with a shrug. 

“And we really don’t like girls who’re mean to our La-La, here,” Fred said with a firm nod. 

The twins, and secretly, Elara, were delighted when the girl’s face turned bright red, and she snarled at them before turning around and stamping off, calling back. “You two weren’t even cute anyway!” 

“Oh, we’re so wounded!” Fred said, his free hand going to his heart.

“Got us right here,” George agreed, falling to the ground, letting out a moan. “La-La...tell Mum...we love her...and tell everyone else...but...most of all...tell Ron…” 

“He doesn’t get out secret stash of candy,” Fred said as he fell to his knees. “That’s yours,” 

Elara let out a snort, shaking her head at her best friends. “Sure, I’ll tell them. You should get up though, the grass might make you itchy,” 

“Not...until...someone…” George gasped out.

“Tells...us...we’re…” Fred said with a pained voice.

“Cute!” They chimed together. 

“You’re cute,” Elara flatly. 

“Hey, now!” George protested, looking up at Elara with a mock hurt expression, though his eyes glittered with amusement. “At least put a little feeling in there!” 

“You guys just said you needed to hear you’re cute, not if I meant it or not,” Elara pointed out, causing Fred to gasp.

“Did you hear that, Georgie?! I don’t think La-La thinks we’re cute!” 

“I never said that either,” Elara said with a small smile. 

“...now I think she’s purposefully dodging the question!” George said as he sat up, looking to his best friend. 

“I agree, George,” Fred said with a grin, sliding the bag off his shoulder and setting it carefully against the stands. “I think we’re gonna need to…” 

“Tickle it out of her!” They cried out, quickly grabbing the girl, who blinked but then shrieked in surprise as she was brought to the ground, though the shriek was quickly replaced with laughter as multiple fingers found her weak spots. 

“Nooo!” Elara laughed but cried out. 

“Tell us the truth, then, La-La!” George said with a wicked grin. 

“You know what they say!” Fred agreed with a laugh as he watched Elara squirm beneath them. “The truth shall set you free!” 

“I’ll...ne-never...tell!” Elara laughed, still squirming wildly, though she was trying to be quite careful of her feet, since she was wearing cleats. That would hurt if she accidentally kicked them with those on. 

“Well, you asked for it,” George said as he looked to his twin brother. “Quick! Sit on her legs and start taking her shoes off!” 

“NO!” Elara cried out, even though the tickling had lessened, she knew Fred would really do it. “You’re both cute! Very cute!” 

“See?” George grinned. “Was that so hard to admit?” 

“We think you’re very cute too, by the way,” Fred said, giving her a playful wink.

"The cutest," George said with his own wink, causing Elara to turn a little pink at the compliment. 

“I wanna know if you two have brothers!” A new voice called, and the twins looked up to see the small audience they had gathered, as Elara’s teammates were staring at them with amused looks and grins. 

“Why, yes! We do!” Fred said with a grin. “Three older brothers, a younger brother, and a younger sister, actually,” 

“Woah,” The girl who had asked said, her eyes widening. “And I thought I had a big family being the youngest of four,” 

“How old’s the oldest?” An older girl asked with a grin. 

“Nineteen going on twenty,” George answered with a raised brow. 

“...darn,” She sighed, shaking her head, her brown ponytail falling over her shoulder. "Too old for me," 

Fred and George let out a small snort. Trust it that even when he wasn't here their oldest brother still got the attention of girls. Speaking of…

Their attention turned back to their best friend, who had sat up while they had been speaking to the others. "Hey, La-La?" George asked softly.

"Hm?" 

"Who was that girl earlier?" Fred asked. 

"Oh...I thought you guys knew and that's why you acted that way," Elara said with a surprised blink. It was why she didn't say anything about their language, even though that was probably wrong of her. Especially since it had been her and Harry's fault for them learning that word. But she couldn't help it! "That was Patricia," 

"...the Patricia that's been bullying you?" George asked with a surprised blink.

"The one and the same," Elara nodded.

"...hot dang," Fred said with a grin. "We're good, George!" He then held out his hand, his palm flat, and George slapped his palm against his brother's with a loud smack. 

“Okay, as funny as the situation is,” An older female voice called out, and everyone turned to a female who had to be in her late thirties, giving the group an amused look. “It’s time to get our game started,” 

“Good luck, La-La!” The twins cheered as they stood up, both of them offering Lara a hand, and she pulled herself up. 

“By the way,” Fred said. “We’re going to be going back and forth, since we wanna see Harry’s game, too,” 

“I think until Lily and James get here, us and Sirius are going to be switching, so there’s someone here to watch all the time,” George said with a nod. 

“Okay,” Elara said with a nod. She doubted her parents were going to be very long, not with magic, and if Mum drove, they’d probably just take about fifteen minutes. 

With that, the twins sat down on the stands, rooting for their best friend, though they kept an eye on the time. As they told Lara, they did switch back and forth between games, and not long, James and Lily showed up. With the games started, and still with plenty of time, it was time to start their plan. 

James was sitting with the twins and Sirius, while Lily was watching Harry’s game, when the twins looked to the adults. 

“Uh...we gotta go to the bathroom,” George said. 

“And...we can’t remember where it is,” Fred said. 

The whole Weasley clan, well, the ones not in school, had showed up to some of their games, when they could, including their parents. They wanted to be quite supportive, and usually were, but sometimes some games were too far away for them to swing by and watch without causing some attention...which, they kinda did anyway, considering they didn’t understand some muggle things. They were learning though, thanks to the Potter clan! 

“I’ll take them,” Sirius said, recognizing the signal. They got lucky that the school kept it open for games like this so they could still enter the school. 

“Do you even remember where it is?” James teased his friend. 

“That was one time!” Sirius said with an exasperated sigh, standing up and motioning for the kids to follow them. 

“Don’t raise your hackles this time!” James called with a laugh, turning back to watch Lara’s game. 

“What’s he talking about?” Fred asked, the bag slung over his shoulder once more. 

“First time, Lily gave me directions to find the bathroom, couldn’t find it. I was alone so I just...you know, used the old sniffer,” Sirius said, pointing at his nose. The twins understood that he had changed into a dog to use his senses. 

“Oh man, I bet that wasn’t pleasant once you got there,” George said with a laugh. 

“Well, yes and no,” Sirius said with a grin. “Not great for my nose, cause I just caught the janitor leaving, so there was a lot of chemical smells. Good once I’m human cause I knew it was nice and clean,” 

“Makes sense,” Fred agreed. Though he wasn’t quite sure he had ever smelled much of the chemical smell Sirius was talking about. The Potter’s did some things the Muggle way when it came to cleaning, but everything had smelled okay to him. 

“Alright, since we’re away from everyone now, what’s the plan?” Sirius asked. 

“La-La’s locker first,” George said firmly. 

“It’s more important,” Fred agreed with his own nod. 

Sirius raised a brow at this before he smiled. He had to admit, he was rather impressed that they were doing this over the revenge prank. It showed some real maturity on their part, and how much they actually cared about his goddaughter. 

It was actually pretty cute, too. 

“Okay,” Sirius said with a nod. “Well, I doubt I really need to help look out for that, since you both aren’t doing anything wrong. Is there anything else I can do?” 

“Actually, we’re gonna need you to spell one note for us so we can record something,” George said, motioning for Fred to put down the bag and his twin did. George opened the bag, digging around until he pulled out a giant star card, opening it. “We want it to be like those Muggle cards that have them, but...well...we couldn’t really get any and we wanted to make it ourselves,” 

“I can do that,” Sirius said, reaching for the star. “Any idea what you’re gonna say?” 

“You’re the best and we love you,” George beamed. “Short, sweet, to the point!” 

“And the spell won’t fade unless someone takes it off, so when we go off to school, if she needs to hear us or some reassurance, we’re right there!” Fred beamed as well. 

“That’s really smart,” Sirius said, once again feeling touched and impressed at the twins forethought. “And sweet,” 

“We try!” The twins beamed. 

“Alright, once I say the spell, I’ll tap my wand and then it’ll record whatever. Once you’re done, I’ll tap it again and it’ll quit and we can see what you guys think,” Sirius said, opening the star. 

“Wait!” George said, digging into the bag, pulling out a picture of them and Lara together. It had been taken on a Muggle camera, something Lara called a selfie. Fred was on her left, his cheek pressed against hers, and George on the right, his cheek pressed against hers, and they were all smiling brightly. “Can you do a sticking charm on the star with this for us too? We’re a little worried about using tape or glue on it,” 

“Sure can,” Sirius said with a nod. “In the center or are you gonna write something?”

“Nope, front and center,” Fred said with a grin. “The voice is the main focus,” 

“Got it,” Sirius said. He placed the photo on the star, muttering the enchantment, and then he looked to the twins. 

“Okay, gonna say the voice enchantment, so come over here. Once I tap it again with my wand, say what you want, and then once you’re finished, I’ll tap it again. Then we’ll see if you wanna redo it,” 

Fred and George nodded, moving closer, and once Sirius said it and tapped his wand, they said. 

“You’re the best, La-La! And we love you!” 

“But I love you more!” George quickly said.

“Seriously!?” Fred cried out. That wasn’t part of the plan! Ah well. This worked even better. “No way! I love her more!” 

“Do not!” 

“Do too!” 

“Do not!” 

“Do too!” 

“Do-okay we better wrap this up,” 

“Too true, Georgie. Okay, we both agree we love her to pieces and we’ll solve this a different day,” 

“Agreed,” 

“Love you, La-La!” They chimed together, nodding to Sirius, who was biting back a laugh the whole time, tapping the card. 

“You two couldn’t help yourselves, could you?” Sirius laughed. 

“Hey, it’s us, and we’re sure it’ll make La-La laugh,” George grinned. 

“Okay, let’s get started,” Fred grinned. “We’ve got a deadline,” 

With that, the twins set to work on Lara’s locker, Fred decorating the outside with multicolored stars, some of which contained messages, George the inside while Sirius watched, and, on occasion, cast a few spells. Fred had voiced a concern on someone, namely, Patricia, seeing the outside first and trying to tear it down, so Sirius casted a spell so that she and her two friends couldn’t touch it. 

It took a little longer than they thought, but they looked back at their handywork. Stars decorated her locker, all small little notes and words of encouragement from the twins, and the Weasley parents, and one from Harry and Sirius. Near the top was a contraption set up that as soon as they close this locker, once someone opens it, it will sprinkle out the confetti ribbon and stars over the person. 

And hanging right in the center was the main, big, yellow star. 

Of course, some of the stars were mitch matched, but that didn’t matter. 

“Think we’ve done everything we can, Freddie,” George grinned as they took in their handy work, his eyes going to a picture of him, Fred, and Elara. The Weasley twins were kissing the young Potter’s cheeks. This was one of the moving they had their mother freeze for them. There were a few other pictures decorating the locker, some with them and Harry and Lara, some with the other kids of the Weasley’s. But all in all, the Weasley twins were always in a photo. 

“Time,” Fred asked Sirius. 

Sirius checked his watch. “I think we have enough time to finish the second one you wanna do, if we’re quick. We can use the excuse that you guys got curious so you wanted to explore a little bit,,” 

“We can do that,” The twins nodded. 

“It’s not that complicated, anyway,” George shrugged.

“Short, sweet, and to the point,” Fred agreed. “We just need you…” 

George handed him a rubber stamp. “To enchant this to say bully and make the ink semi permanent. Enough that it’ll take a fair amount of washes,” 

Sirius nodded, once again casting the spell before handing it to the twins, who, unlike Lara’s locker, made quick work of their prank. They still did wish they could do more, but this was the best they could do without giving away anything, and it was to the point. 

Sometimes the best revenge were like that. 

Plus, it helped Patricia’s friends were right next to the girl’s locker. 

Once they were done, the closed Patricia's locker, high fived each other and left to head back to their best friend's game, feeling good about what they managed to accomplish. The only thing they wished was to see both girls's face in the morning. 

Elara waved to her mother as she dropped her and her brother off for their final day of school. 

“Ugh, can’t believe you guys are having to redo that test,” Harry complained for his sister, adjusting his backpack. “That’s so unfair,” 

“Well, wasn’t her fault the scanning system ended up eating everyone’s answers,” Elara said though she did sigh. “Felt so confident for that test and now it’s different…” 

“Ellie, you’ll be fine,” Harry told his sister confidently. “You’ve studied and you answered most of the questions correctly, and you know your teacher is a fan of extra credit questions. You’ve got this!” 

“Yeah, but…” 

“Ellie,” Harry said firmly, not noticing the small crowd in front of his sister’s locker. “Stop with the self doubt,” They really need to up her confidence...somehow. 

“Lara!” A girl on her team shouted, moving through the crowd. “That’s so sweet of those twins to do this for you!” 

“What?” Elara said with a blink, looking to her teammate. “What are you talking about?” 

The girl grabbed Lara, bringing her to the front, where Elara saw the front of her locker decorated with multicolored stars, a few reading some notes, saying she got this, she was the best, ace the test. 

A smile grew on her features, a warmth building her chest. She did recognize the handwriting, and it was clear from the signatures on one of the stars why her teammate knew who did this. 

“That’s really sweet,” The girl said and Elara hummed in agreement.

“Oh, please,” Patricia said with a roll of her eyes. “They put a few stars on her locker and a few words. Big whoop,” 

“Someone’s jealous,” Harry muttered to his sister, who gave him a small smile. 

The small crowd began to move on to their own lockers, Harry waiting next to Elara to grab her books, as they usually did. Though this time, Harry was far more excited to see the rest of the surprise. He had promised the twins to watch her reaction so he could tell them next time he saw them. 

Elara went to her combination lock, spinning to the number she needed, unlocking it, opening the door when soft,sparkly things started falling on top of her, getting into her hair and she blinked. She looked at the sparkly ribbon and star shaped confetti, another bright smile coming to her features as she looked up, and then a soft gasp escaped her. A giant yellow star hung in the middle, and inside her locker were even more stars, and even pictures of her, the twins, her family, that were filled with encouraging notes. 

Elara felt her heart flutter, the warmth growing more and more in her chest, and she felt her eyes mist up. She had the best friends...they were always trying to make sure she was happy, and when she was worried or sad, that she would laugh and lift her spirits. 

She really needed to find a way to thank them, especially since so many were telling her how smart she was, how she got this, and they loved her. 

She reached for the star, smiling, pulling it close before she noticed it wasn’t just a star. It was a card. She opened it, and her smile grew as she heard the twins familiar voices. Her smile never faltered as she listened to them, but a laugh bubbled up and escaped her as they began to argue who loved her more staring at the picture they had taped to the center of it. 

That was her boys. 

Elara couldn’t help but feel tears come to her eyes, and she pressed the picture to her chest, turning to Harry with a bright smile. 

“I have the best friends in the whole world,” Elara said. “And the best brother,” 

“I had little to do with this, Ellie,” Harry said with a smile and a shake of his head. “Just told them your locker number and asked if I could write a note. They came up with this themselves,” 

Before Elara could reply, a shriek was heard, and Elara turned her head, about to move to try and see what was going on, when they crowd parted for her, cries of something gross reaching her ears, and there she saw Patricia and her friends, covering their noses, while Patricia had a blue Bully stamped on her forehead. 

As one of the students ran passed her, gagging, Elara asked what happened. 

“Someone put stinkbombs in Patricia’s locker!” He said. “It’s awful!” 

Elara blinked, turning to Harry for a moment, her eyes widening in understanding. Those weren’t stinkbombs...but they were close. 

“Dungbombs!” She mouthed to Harry, and Harry let out a bark of laughter. 

“I will say,” Harry whispered. “Merlin help them if someone tries to bully you at our new school. Just think what the twins can do with magic!” 

Yup. She had the best friends in the whole entire world. She needed to think of a way to thank them.


	6. Fred and George Ire's

"Oh, please don't cry, La-La," George whispered softly. He hated the fact that he could see tears in his best friend's eyes, and it broke his heart. While he was excited to finally go to Hogwarts, this was the biggest con of them all.

Leaving Elara behind. 

"We'll write," Fred whispered, wrapping his arms around Elara. Like his brother, he hated this part. He would miss his family, but he wouldn't mind the distance either. But their Elara? He wanted to have those adventures to be theirs too. "We'll send you a souvenir and we'll write all the time,"

"At least three times a week!" George said, his own arms around the girl. 

"Just don't tell mum," Fred whispered. "We told her once a week," 

Elara had her own arms wrapped around her best friends and she nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks, and Fred and George's heart broke once more, their arms tightening around her. They hated it when she cried…

"La-La…" they whispered softly. "It'll be okay…"

The train whistled, the twins looked back before looking at their friend, kissing her cheek. "We'll miss you so much," they said.

Elara looked up at her friends, softly kissing their cheeks. "I'll miss you more,"

The Weasley twins gave her a soft smile. 

"Remember, you have our notes," George said. "Decorate your locker with those,"

"And when you need us," Fred said. "Open the star. We're there, too. And when you really need us, no matter what, even when we just sent some letters, write to us,"

The train whistled again, and the twins quickly pecked her cheeks again, scrambling onto the train.

"We love you!" They cried out, waving to her and their family. 

Elara waved back, tears freely falling from her cheek. She continued to wave until the train was no longer in her sight, unaware the twins were doing the same before turning to her brother, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his shoulder. 

She missed them already. 

Dear La-La,

You know those stories your parents, Sirius, and Remus told us when we were younger about Hogwarts? 

It is so much cooler than they said! There are so many corridors, the staircases really do move, though you really do need to be careful about the vanishing step. Your dad and Sirius even told us about a secret corridor to help us out, and boy, did it come in handy our second day of classes. 

Don't worry though, they only told us about it the day before we left. We're sure they'll tell you everything before your year too. 

Also, no surprise, but we made Gryffindor! It's pretty great, the common room, and the dorms, but it kinda sucks cause Percy's there too, and he is such a stickler for the rules now! Dunno what happened to him there...but it helps Charlie is here. He's a pretty cool Prefect. 

Actually, speaking of cool, there are actually a few Slytherins that are pretty cool! I know, weird sentence to write, but it's true! There are these two girls, red heads as well, but they are more of a deep red than a ginger red, and they're pranksters too, apparently! Haven't seen them in action yet, but it is the third day of school, so maybe they're just waiting and planning...though Charlie told us to mind them, not in a bad way! Just they have a temper, kinda like you. 

And there is a dude named Corvus, dark hair bloke. He's pretty nice, reminds us of Charlie, in a way. Sticks by the important rules but other than that, he doesn't really care, it seems. Hard to say, cause he is quiet but he helped us out on our first day. At first, we thought he was lying to us, but he did show us a faster way to get to Transfiguration from where we were at! 

There is a nice bloke in Hufflepuff, too, named Zeph, but that's to be expected. He's a Puff. 

Now, I know you're curious about the kids in our year. Really, not much to write about. The girls and guys are...okay, we guess. None are really up to your level, and no one can tell us apart like you can. Charlie and Percy say to give them time and a chance, and we are! Just…

We miss you. Sometimes we look around for you before remembering you won't be here till our third year. Which we are really looking forward to! You'll be in Gryffindor and we will go on so many adventures, and we'll show you around! It will be amazing! 

Fred says sorry he hasn't written much in this letter, by the way. He's writing to Mum, Dad, Ron, and Ginny. 

How's school going? Is Patricia treating you right? Are your teachers? Is softball starting up soon? How's everyone there? Tell us everything! 

Love,

Fred, and George.

P.S. There is one bloke we're curious about. Name is Lee Jordan. We'll letcha know once we know him. Love you! 

Fred. 

Fred and George sat at the Gryffindor table impatiently waiting for the mail to appear. They had sent Lara a letter ages ago...okay, about two days. What would take a reply so long?! Did something happen? Did the owl get lost? Damn, they should've asked Percy which owl was the most reliable here. 

"You alright?" Charlie asked them with a raised brow. 

"Yeah," George answered. "Just hoping La-La answered our letter," 

"You two really should start making friends," Percy said with a frown before he let out an ouch, as Charlie had hit him on the arm. 

"We are trying to make friends, Percy," Fred said between gritted teeth. "But I'd like to remind you, La-La has a bully at school who can get away with murder,"

"So excuse us for being concerned for our best friend that we can't see anymore until breaks," George snapped. 

Percy opened his mouth to say something to his younger brothers before a soft sigh escaped him. He had only been told about the bully, and he had been appalled, but he hadn't been there for the aftermath of what had happened. He had been told that Elara had become withdrawn and refused to come over, but he hadn't actually seen anything. When he came back from school, Elara had seemed happier than ever. 

"You're right," Percy said. "I'm sorry,"

"Excuse us?" The twins asked. 

"Did Percy just say he's sorry?!" George asked, clearly flabbergasted.

"I think he did!" Fred chimed. 

"Hey, I know to admit when I'm wrong," Percy said with a frown. "I didn't see Lara during the whole bullying thing and you guys did, so it is right for you to worry," 

Before George could answer, a cry was heard, and the twins perked up, looking for a dark brown owl. Their La-La had to have written to them by now, right? 

A dark brown owl swooped down, dropping a note in front of the twins, and they quickly opened it. 

Dear Fred and George, 

I miss you guys so much too. And congratulations on joining Gryffindor; knew you guys would join there! And I'm glad to hear that the school is just as magical as our parents make it out to be...imagine the let down if it wasn't! 

I'm also very proud of you guys for not instantly playing into the hands of the "all Slytherins are evil" card! They sound pretty nice, so you should give them a chance, though, I doubt those girls can match your level of skills. You two were born on the prankster day, after all. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is! 

Speaking of chances, I agree with your brother's. Remember, it took me and Harry a little while too before we started being able to tell you guys apart, though, you guys always trying to trick people isn't helpful. And yes, yes, Harry and I would totally try it if we looked similar and were the same gender. I'm just saying, is all. 

School is okay, we have new teachers this year,so I'll tell you more about them once I know more. Patricia hasn't done anything yet, but it is early in the school year, so time will tell. She seems a bit different, so maybe your prank on her made her think twice! I certainly hope so. Also, by the way, the school has cameras now in the hallways, so you'll have to take that into consideration if you do a prank like that again. Decorating lockers is fine.

Yes, before you ask, I'm pretty sure they got them because of the prank on Patricia. Good job.

Yes, that was partially sarcastic. What if I wanted to do a prank, huh?! 

As for how everyone is doing, we're doing alright. Molly and Arthur seem to be sad about how quiet it is at the Burrow without you both, while Ron is acting like he's pretty happy you guys are gone, since he doesn't have to worry about any pranks. But sometimes I caught him looking at your door, so I think he's a little more sad about it than he lets on. Ginny really does miss you guys as well. Harry jokingly likes to say that at least he'll get a break yelling about not kissing his sister, but I know he misses you both as well.

Even mum, dad, and Uncle Sirius said it seems strange without you guys. 

Softball hasn't started yet, but I'll let you know how the season goes once it does. 

I love you both, and I can't wait to hear about the adventures and shenanigans you get up to. Let me know if you need anything! 

Lots of love,

Your La-La

Fred and George grinned at each other, giving each other a high five. Charlie looked at his brothers.

"I suppose everything is okay?"

"Yeah!" Fred chirped. 

"Just we pranked Patricia so bad that they got cameras now," George said with a laugh. 

"Is that really something to be proud of?" Percy said with a blink.

"With how spoiled Patrica is, probably," George said with a snort. 

Another soft cry was heard, and a white owl flew towards them, causing the Weasley kids to be confused as another familiar owl flew towards them.

"What's Cream doing here?" Charlie asked.

"No idea," Fred said, ignoring the kids around him, offering his arm to the snowy white owl.

"Who names their owl Cream?" One asked with a laugh, offering his fingers towards the dark brown owl.

The twins couldn't help but grin deviously. "Brownie Bites,"

"What?" The kid in their year asked before yelping, as the owl bit them. 

"That one's full name is Brownie Bites," George snickered. "Our La-La named him,"

"Hey," Charlie said. "Cream has two letters," 

The twins looked and sure enough, she did. One envelope read "Open me first" followed by "Then instantly open me!" 

They shrugged before doing what they were towards and their mouth opened in surprise.

Their first letter was a Zonko's list with slashed prices. They quickly opened the second one, realizing the familiar handwriting, especially with it being excited.

FRED! GEORGE! 

WRITE BACK ASAP! ZONKO'S HAVING A SALE! I ALREADY RESTOCKED YOUR NORMAL SUPPLIES! TELL ME WHAT ELSE YOU WANT! DON'T SEND MONEY, THIS IS PART OF AN EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT. AND DON'T ARGUE, SERIOUSLY, THIS WAS PART OF YOUR GIFT ANYWAY! 

WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS?! WRITE, WRITE, WRITE! 

I still miss you and love you both,

Elara

"WE LOVE THIS GIRL!" The twins shouted, ignoring the looks from their fellow first years, quickly grabbing Percy's bag.

"Hey!" Their older brother shouted.

"We need a scroll and ink, Perc!" Fred shouted. 

"Then use your own!" Percy said.

"Didn't bring ours," George shrugged. 

"What's going on?" Charlie asked, pretending that the other first years weren't paying attention. 

"Zonko's is having a sale and La-La is asking for a list for us!" Fred beamed. "She even threatened us if we sent money!"

"They grow up so fast," George said, dabbing his eye dramatically with his napkin. 

"Seriously though," Fred said. "She said she's buying it as an early Christmas present," 

If there was one universal truth about every single Weasley, it was they didn't accept charity. Friends could gift or lend, but Merlin help you if a single one sniffed out you gave something to them because you felt sorry for them. 

“Did you say Zonko’s having a sale?” Lee Jordan asked the twins, who looked up at him, nodding. 

“Yup,” Fred said as George was busy scribbling down some of the things they wanted with little notes. They had no idea how much allowance Lara had at the moment, or how much she had to spend for their presents. It was still several months away before Christmas, and plenty of time for her to earn more money, but they didn’t want her to spend everything she had on them.

Which...she probably would. Lara was really generous that way towards her loved ones when it came to presents. 

So to help with that, they were ranking which products were higher on their list of wants, rather than just saying they wanted everything. 

One day though, when they opened their own joke shop, they were going to make sure that La-La got whatever she wanted for free, given how much she had given them. 

“Mind if I take a look at the ad?” Lee Jordan asked. 

“One second,” George said, glancing back over it before handing it to his fellow Gryffindor, writing down a few more things. “Gonna need it back to look at the back though,” 

Lee Jordan scanned the items, letting out a low whistle before handing it back to Fred. “That’s a great sale, that. I wonder why it didn’t happen before school?” 

“Who knows?” Fred and George said with a shrug. 

“Might be because most kids are back in school, they’re hoping for one last push,” Fred said. 

“Or it might be they didn’t sell as much as they wanted before school started that they’re trying to get some more revenue,” Charlie pointed out. 

“Either way, thank Merlin for La-La,” George said, rubbing his cheek, accidentally brushing ink across his freckled cheek. “Some of these products are so expensive even with their normal sales. Least we’ll finally be able to try some out,” 

“That’s, uh, kinda a big list, George,” Percy pointed out with a frown. “I don’t think Lara’s allowance will cover all that,” 

“Huh? Oh, no, not all of this is for us,” George said, not looking up from the paper. “Some of this is us telling her what she might like, what Harry might like, their uncles and parents too,” 

“She should get herself a treat while she’s there, but knowing her, she’s buying something for everyone if she thinks they’ll enjoy it,” Fred said. 

Percy nodded, relaxing a bit. He knew his brothers weren’t spoiled in the least, well, none of them were. But Lara’s generosity was known quite well...though, he knew he shouldn’t have even entertained the thought of Fred or George taking advantage of that, not with how protective they were of her. 

“Hey,” Lee Jordan said, and the twins looked up at him with a curious expression. “Think your friend, Lara, was it? Would mind picking up a few things for me as well? I’d pay her back,” 

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. George had stopped writing, and Fred’s eyes narrowed, their protective instincts coming out, and alarm bells were ringing in their head. Did Lee Jordan figure out that their Lara was Lara Potter? Wanting to use her? Or did he see a girl that he could easily use to just...run his errands, since she wasn’t at Hogwarts yet. 

Either way, not on their bloody watch. 

George’s head slowly rose, and his normally relaxed look was completely gone, and his eyes were narrowed dangerously at Lee Jordan, who gulped slightly. All of the first years were a little concerned, as the one thing they quickly learned about the Weasley twins were they were quite the jokesters, even if it was only the first week of school. 

This was a new side to them completely. 

“No,” The twins said together, their voices cold and harsh. 

“Why don’t you just use the owl mail delivery system instead?” Fred offered coldly, starting to scoop up the letters Lara sent and the ad. 

“You know, the whole purpose of what it’s there for is for when you can’t get it yourself,” George said, starting to scoop up the paper and quill, standing up himself. 

“Not using our best friend as a delivery service,” They hissed out once they were both standing.

“Brownie,” Fred said firmly, and the dark brown owl blinked before flying over to Fred’s shoulder. 

“Cream,” George said as well, and the creamy white owl settled herself onto George’s shoulder. 

Fred then reached for Percy’s bag, placing it over his free shoulder, and the two twins stormed off, muttering darkly to each other. 

“...uh…” Lee Jordan said with a dumbfounded expression on his features. “What just happened?” 

“They took my bag, that’s what happened,” Percy said with a sigh. “I need that,” 

“Relax, Perc,” Charlie said with a shake of his head. “They’re going to the Owlery, you’ll get it back. Might want to be wary of what’s in it, but you’ll have it,” Looks like he was going to have to do damage control. 

“Hey, kid, mind if we talk over there for a moment?” Charlie asked, motioning to a little further away, towards the doors. 

“Uh, sure. My name is Lee, by the way,” He said, standing up. “Lee Jordan,” 

“Charlie Weasley,” Charlie said with a smile, heading over until they were both a little further away. “Look, about my brother’s...they’re just really protective of Lara, so I wouldn’t take what happened personally,” Now here is where he needed to be careful. Lara wouldn’t appreciate a complete stranger knowing her business, but he was confident the girl would be okay with a small bit, especially if it helped smoothed over a misunderstanding. 

“I, uh...kinda figured that out, myself,” Lee said. “Didn’t mean to step on any toes…”

“No, no, it isn’t you,” Charlie said with a quick shake of his head. “Look, I’d appreciate if you’d keep this to yourself, but...their protective instinct right now is just up because last year, Lara was kinda going through something with some classmates. She’s still having problems there, but instead of being there to help her like they were last year…” 

“They’re stuck here,” Lee said, suddenly understanding. “And can’t do anything if something does happen…” 

“Right,” Charlie nodded. “So when someone came around, and it seemed like they might want to use her…” 

“They can protect her from that, at least,” Lee said with a nod of his head, feeling a bit bad for the girl, and for doing that to the twins. “No, I get it,” 

“It really isn’t your fault,” Charlie said. “You didn’t know, and you just figured since she was already there,” 

“Yeah,” Lee said with a nod again. “Though I can see it from their side; I’d be a bit worried if a complete stranger wanted my friend to do something for me and I didn’t know them, now that I think about it. I’ll find them and apologize,” 

“Well, like I told my brother, Percy, you know where they’re going,” Charlie said. “If you remember how to get there from the tour?” 

“Pretty sure I can find the big tall tower with birds circling around it,” Lee joked. “Thanks, though,” 

“No problem,” Charlie said. “I’d give it a few minutes before you take off. The walk will help cool them down,” 

“Thanks,” Lee said, though he headed out of the Great Hall and to the Courtyard, sitting down on a bench. He waited a few minutes like Charlie suggested before he headed off to the Owlery, instantly hearing the Weasley twins. 

“Okay, Brownie-ow! Fine! You don’t want the letter! I was going to say you two take a rest, but this does need to get to La-La quickly,” Fred said, sticking his finger in his mouth. “Damn bird…” 

“You’re just jealous Brownie likes me bet-ow!” George cried out, sucking on his own finger. “You did that on purpose, you fluffy devil!” 

Brownie let out a hoot, settling his feathers, staring at the twins, while Cream cooed softly at them, picking the letter up in her beak. 

“Thanks, Cream,” Fred mumbled. “Seriously, don’t feel like you have to rush now. We know you both flew a ways,” 

Cream looked up at them before settling back down, closing her eyes, and George reached out with a finger, stroking her breast softly. “Atta girl,” He said with a smile. 

“Ahem,” Lee said, clearing his throat, and the twins turned their heads, their eyes narrowing. 

“What do you want?” Fred demanded. 

“Look, mate, I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Lee said quickly. “I wasn’t meaning anything bad by asking. Just, my parents will be cool with some of the stuff in the shop, but not some of the other things. Figured your friend might just make it easier for me to get it discreetly. But your brother, Charlie, sorta explained the situation with your friend, and then the more I got to thinking about it, even if she wasn’t in that situation, I would be wary about a random person suddenly asking for a favor like that, too. So, I’m sorry,” 

The twins blinked before looking to each other. ‘Well, that was nice of him,’ Fred said.

‘We may have sorta...jumped the gun, as Lily says, on that one,’ George agreed. 

‘Apologize?’ 

‘Apologize,’ 

The twins then looked at Lee, giving him a smile. “Apology accepted, and we’re sorry too,” They said.

“La-La’s just been through a lot here, lately,” Fred said. “We just didn’t want anyone to try and hurt or use her,” 

“No, I get it,” Lee said with a nod. “Charlie didn’t tell me the specifics, but he did say she was having trouble with some classmates, so I get why you guys wanted to protect her. Which, is she a muggle born?” 

Fred and George stiffened at that, trying to remind themselves to try to not jump the gun again. “Does it matter?” They asked.

“Oh, no,” Lee said with a shake of his head. “Just, it’s pretty rare for a wizard to go to another school, unless they’re muggle born. So was just curious about what that’s like,” 

Fred and George felt themselves relax some more. That made more sense, since it seemed Lee was either a pureblood or a halfblood, given the way he talked. A lot of wizards who weren’t exposed to Muggle things were often curious about it, if they weren’t into blood status. 

“No,” George said. “She’s not, but her mother is. She just wanted her kids to get a taste of one part of their heritage before they spent seven years and most of their lives with magic,” 

“Oh, so Lara’s not an only child?” Lee asked. 

“Nope, she has an older brother,” Fred said with a shrug. “We’re close to him but he’s closer to our younger brother,” 

“...how many siblings do you have?” Lee asked with a blink. 

“Three older brothers, younger brother, and a younger sister,” The twins chimed. They were used to that reaction, really. 

“Bill, the oldest, got to graduate a little early last year to start his Curse Breaking training,” Fred explained. “You know Charlie and Percy, and Ron won’t be here till our third year, and Ginny, our sister, our fourth,” 

“Wow,” Lee said with a blink. “I’m an only child, but that must be wild to have so many siblings,” 

“It can be,” Fred said with a nod. 

“But also a pain,” George sighed. The amount of times they had to babysit when they wanted to go do something...oh well. 

Lee nodded, though he didn’t really understand. It would’ve been nice to have someone to play with...alas. “So, uhm...when’s Lara supposed to get here?” 

“Her and her twin brother will be here our third year as well,” George said, this time his sigh more sad than before. 

“Such a long time,” Fred said with a sigh as well. 

“Least you’ll be able to help her out when she gets here,” Lee pointed out, causing the twins to grin. 

“We have been telling ourselves that,” Fred said with a nod. “Just weird from going to being able to see her every day, if we wanted,” 

“To nothing at all until breaks,” George finished. 

Lee nodded, and a silence fell upon them, besides the soft hoots of owls and the ruffling of feathers, before Fred spoke up.

“You, uh...wanna start over?” Fred asked. “This morning wasn’t really the best start,” 

“Sure,” Lee said with a grin, holding out his hands to the twins. “Lee Jordan,”

“Fred Weasley,” Fred said, taking Lee’s left hand, shaking it vigorously. 

“George Weasley,” George said, taking his right, shaking it as well. 

“Nice to meet you!” They chirped together. 

“Nice to meet you too!” Lee said with a laugh.

“Hey, how about we get out of here and talk about some of those products?” Fred offered. It’d be great to have another prankster on board, and once La-La got here, they’d be unstoppable.

“Sounds great to me,” Lee said, turning around and heading out the door, the twins behind him, grinning. 

They had a feeling this was going to be a great start to a beautiful friendship. 

The twins had been right in regards to Lee in their friendship, though they still always said that La-La was their best friend. It was nothing against him, and he was one of their best friends, but Lara would always hold that position in their hearts. They just hoped that once Lara and Lee actually met, they’d get along as well as they did. 

Though they didn’t have to worry about that just yet. Christmas break was a month away, though the twins were actively searching for the perfect present they could give or make Lara, in return for the items she had bought them, going beyond what they had asked for. 

Fred was sitting at breakfast one day, with george and Lee next to him, flipping through one of the mail order ads, before letting out a groan, letting his head hit the table with a loud thump. The other first years raised a brow at the twin before going back to their breakfast, chatting about their weekend plans. 

“You alright, Fred?” Charlie asked from across the table.

“We still can’t find La-La the perfect present,” George groaned. “There’s gotta be something,” 

“You know,” Their friend Angelina said with a raised brow. “It might help if you let a girl help you,”

“La-La’s not like normal girls,” Fred said, his voice slightly muffled. “Besides, you don’t know her,” 

“Neither does Jordan over there, but you’re letting him help,” Katie said with a frown. “And what’s that supposed to mean? That she’s not like other girls. What do you know about girls?” 

“Trust me, I’ve heard enough about her,” Lee said with a laugh. “Pretty sure I know her well enough by now. Though I still don’t know why you two didn’t bring any pictures of her with you,” 

Fred moved his head slightly, looking up at his twin, who glanced back down at him. They had brought pictures, several, in fact. They just hadn’t put them up yet. Not because they were embarrassed, far from it, but because they didn’t want anyone finding out who Lara actually was. They had seen what happened many times during their trips to Diagon Alley whenever people finally realized she was the Potter girl. 

And they had seen what happened when people realized they were close to her. They didn’t want that, not just yet. A normal year sounded amazing, and this was a way they could protect her too. 

“Meant to,” George said with a shrug. “Just forgot,” 

“We plan on bringing some after Christmas,” Fred said before sitting up. “And I wasn’t meaning it rudely, Katie. I just meant she’s...well, she loves potions, loves reading,” 

“Seriously, once she comes here, I’m pretty sure she’s living in that Library,” George said with a nod. 

“Loves to fly, she’s hoping to be a Chaser,” Fred said. “Like pranks too,” 

“Really sweet, kind, and funny,” George said. “She’s gentle but, man, once her fuse is set…” 

“She’s scary!” They cried out together, shivering. 

“Gotta admit,” Charlie said, smiling slightly at the twins theaterics. “She really is a force to be reckoned with once her temper gets to her,” 

“Angry Lara does have a way with words,” Percy said with a sigh. He had been on the receiving end of it once. It was not an experience he wished to have a repeat of. 

“She’s ten, right?” Katie asked. “Why not just buy her a potion kit?”

“She has one,” The twins said. 

“As of right now, her mum is letting her practise using actual potions,” Fred said. “Seriously, she’s really gifted when it comes to potions,” 

“Even Snape said once that she reaching prodigy levels, if she keeps up the practice,” George said. 

“Wait, you never said Snape knew Lara,” Lee said to his friends.

“It’s nothing major,” Fred said with a shrug, knowing they had to keep this casual. “Their parents were friends in school,” 

Lee just nodded his head. Okay, that made sense...even if it was hard to wrap his idea that the Potion Master had friends. 

“Wait, is she getting special tutorings from Snape?” Angelina asked, her nose wrinkling. That didn’t seem very fair.

“Nah, nothing like that,” George said with a shake of his head, though...it was a little like that. “Just when he popped in and noticed her love for it, he gifted her with a child’s potion set, and as she got older, he just pointed out a few things she could do, and that’s about it. He didn’t visit often...that I’m aware of,” 

“We only saw him a handful of times when we were over, and we’ve known her for five years now,” Fred said. 

Angelina nodded. That made more sense, she supposed, but like Lee, it was weird to imagine Snape being friendly to a child, since he was quite mean to anyone that wasn’t in his house. But, guess it was hard to be mean to a toddler of a friend and who didn’t have a house yet. 

Katie opened her mouth to say something, when a sharp cry and the ruffling of feathers were heard, signaling mail. 

The twins looked up, searching for any recognizable owl, when George pointed up. “I can see Cream!” 

“Wicked!” Fred grinned. They hadn’t heard from Lara in a few days, but she had told them it might be that long till she wrote a letter, saying she had projects due. Cream flew down, dropping the letters into George’s hand before taking off once more. George glanced down at the envelopes before looking to Charlie and Percy. 

“Hey, Lara has something for the four of us,” He told his brother’s, who got up and moved closer to their younger brothers. George opened the letter, moving it slightly so his older brothers could read it more clearly. 

Dear Charlie, Percy, George and Fred, and Uncle Remus,

I hope you all are doing well, and don’t worry, nothing bad has happened to make me write like this. I don’t know if George or Fred told you, Charlie, Percy, but I’ve been a little busy with school with projects. Our science teacher this year noticed, and he decided to do a fun little cliche one, where we can make our own volcano. Honestly, I wish all of you were here, since I felt like this is something you’d all love. 

So I invited Arthur over to help, along with Molly, Ron, and Ginny to watch. It was really fun to watch your dad as we created the volcano but...well...he got...a little too overboard with the ingredients to make the volcano “explode” and spew “lava”. 

As the Muggle saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Hope you all are well, I miss you. 

Hugs and kisses,

Lara.

George blinked in confusion before reaching for the smaller envelope, opening it, and brought out a moving picture. George studied it for a moment before he busted out laughing, handing it to Fred, who watched it before he, too, was letting out a loud laugh and handed to Charlie for him and Percy to watch. 

Charlie and Percy watched, looking at the volcano in the middle, their father beaming proudly as he was holding on to something, Lara and Harry standing on the opposite side of the table, and James clapped Arthur on the shoulder, motioning for him to go ahead, Lara smiling and nodding. Arthur added the ingredient in it, but he kept going, and picture Lara and Harry tried to stop him. But what came next was clear what caused the twins to lose it. In a flash, there was an explosion, and whatever the mix went everywhere, hitting every person, and the walls and ceiling, covering themselves in it. Their father blinked in surprise before beaming again, saying something, causing everyone to laugh, though Lara turned to the camera giving them a little wave. 

“That must’ve made dad’s week,” Charlie said with a laugh, though Percy let out a snort. 

“I wonder what they did to make that explode,” Percy said curiously. 

“Can I see?” Lee asked, and Charlie handed him the picture, and the boy studied it for a moment before he stood up, standing at the twins, crying out loudly. “YOU’RE BEST FRIEND IS ELARA POTTER?!” 

The Great Hall was completely silent at those words, everyone turning to turn their attention to the Weasley’s.

“Wait, what?!” Angelina said in surprise. “You four know the Potters?!” 

“Yeah?” Charlie said with a raised brow. He knew what the big deal was, but in this moment, he knew acting casual was the best plan to go with. 

“I just told you guys we’ve known them for five years,” Fred said with a raised brow himself, his heart pounding. This could get very bad, very ugly, very quickly. 

“No!” Lee cried out. “You said you’ve known Lara for five years! You never said she’s one of the kids that lived!” 

“...and?” George said, his own heart threatening to burst out of his chest. “She’s still a person,” 

“BUT SHE DEFEATED YOU-KNOW-WHO!” Katie shrieked. “Her and her brother!” 

With that, the Great Hall burst into loud whispers, and the Weasley kids knew that their next few days in Hogwarts weren’t going to be as enjoyable as they wanted. Their friends continued to ask questions, until someone cleared their throat, and they looked to see Remus Lupin, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

“Is everything alright?” He asked. 

“Uh, yeah, Re-Professor,” Fred said. He still slipped on occasion about calling Remus Professor, since he had years of just calling him Remus ingrained in his mind.

“Oh, La-La wrote to all of us,” George said, handing the letter and the picture to Remus, who read it and then looked at the picture, a soft laugh escaping him. “I’m sure Arthur was delighted that Lara asked him to help,” 

“Wait! You know them too?!” Lee asked the professor. 

“I’d certainly hope so,” Lupin said, raising his voice slightly. “I am one of their godparents,” 

Lee’s mouth dropped open, as did many of the other students. The Weasley kids knew Lupin was trying to help them, but they knew it probably didn’t matter much. No one would bug a professor like they would fellow students. Still, they did appreciate it. 

“Wait,” Katie said as she looked up at Lupin. “Does this mean...you’ve known the Weasley’s all this time, too?!” 

“Well, I knew their parents a little from our school days,” Remus said with a slight shrug. “But yes, I’ve known the Weasley’s for many years now,” 

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest or something?” Angelina asked. 

“It would if I was a lawyer, or a healer,” Remus said with a raised brow. “I push them just as I do any of my students, in fact, probably more since I know their potential,” 

“Aww, and here I thought having you as a Professor would mean less work,” George faked sniffed. They really had until Bill, Charlie, and Percy kindly informed them that wasn’t the case and would probably never be the case. 

“That’s why you keep giving us double essays,” Fred said with a dramatic gasp. “Remus! How could you!? Betrayal at its finest!” 

“No,” Remus said with a snort. “I gave you that because you two weren’t paying attention. Now, if you four are finished with breakfast, I suggest you get a start to your day,” 

The Weasley kids didn’t need any prompting from that. They quickly made their way out of the Great Hall, though as they walked Charlie looked to his brothers. 

“If they’re pestering you too much, come find me, alright? They’ll lose interest in this soon enough, especially if we don’t feed into it much,” 

“I was planning on being in the Library some today, anyway,” Percy said. “Professor Snape gave us double essays as well,” 

“Good idea, though I’d let Madam Pince know what’s going on, so you don’t get kicked out on accident,” Charlie said before looking to the twins. “I mean it, Fred, George. Come find me if you need me. You two are going to be harassed the most about this,” 

“We can handle ourselves, Charlie,” Fred said with a firm nod. “We got plenty of supplies left thanks to La-La,” 

“Besides, we need to show people that we’re not going to go running to you or Remus,” George said with a nod. “You’ll be leaving in two years, that won’t help us. But, we will come to you if it gets too out of hand, alright?” 

Charlie sighed. He knew that if his brothers were this set on something, they’d do it. Too stubborn for their own good, not that he wasn’t the same way as well. “Okay, but I’m holding you to that. But you might want to write to Lara, telling her to cool it with the letters for a while, or at least, don’t use Brownie or Cream,” 

“What?!” The twins exclaimed in surprise. “Why?!”

“Because they might see if Cream or Brownie will give letters to her,” Percy said with a sigh. “If they aren’t getting anything from you. Tell her to use Errol, at least then everyone will just assume it’s from Mum,” 

The twins sighed before nodding, saying the password to the Fat Lady so they could quickly get a letter going to their best friend. 

It was going to be a long few days. 

While the Weasley twins usually enjoyed being right, this was something they really wished they weren’t. Suddenly, it was the whole school approaching them, and their brothers, asking questions about Elara, though, thankfully, the Slytherins didn’t. 

Charlie had been right, of course, that the twins would be the main targets, as it wasn’t a secret at how close they were to the Girl That Lived. They needed to warn Ron once they went to school, since it might be worse for him. 

But the Weasley twins were about to snap themselves. Especially at their friends. 

“So does she remember anything about that?” Angelina asked. “Anything at all?” 

“Does Harry?” Katie asked. 

Lee had been quick to learn to stop asking the Weasley twins anything about Elara or Harry, at least, if it had to do with them being the Kids Who Lived. Asking how she was doing was fair game. 

Fred gritted his teeth, his hands curling into a fist. Lara had let it slip to him and George once they had become close what she did remember that night, which wasn’t much, besides fear, pain, and green light. She still occasionally had nightmares, and woke up crying, and the twins had been present for a few of them. 

The first time it happened, they had instantly understood why their mother had told them to not ask questions about that night, if just a few images could make Elara cry. 

“No,” George hissed out. “We’re not answering any questions about that,” 

“Come on! We’re your friends!” A first year girl they didn’t know said to them. “You can tell us!” 

“We don’t even know you!” They finally snapped. 

“That’s it!” Fred roared in the common room a few nights later, causing Charlie and Percy to look up in alarm. 

“The next person who asks us about Elara and Harry Potter, if it has to do with them being the Kids That Lived,” George bellowed. 

“IS GONNA REGRET IT!” They cried out together before heading upstairs to their shared dorm, slamming the door behind them. And so they began to plan. 

And that was how Hogwarts found that you did not cross the line when it came to the Weasley twins. Since it was their first year, Fred and George had decided to keep their first year a little light when it came to pranks, at least for the first term. Mostly so they could learn the layout, the best escape routes, learning which professors had a sense of humor and which did not. Best to keep them guessing. So most of their pranks had been pretty harmless compared to what they did at home. 

All bets were off now. 

Countless of students were getting pranked, many having to go to the hospital wing, as they couldn’t fix some of the effects the Weasley twins did. Between changing haircolors, pimples spelling words, slime that couldn’t be spelled off (They did need to thank Lara for that one), and more. 

It took longer than the twins thought, but finally the student body stopped asking them questions about Elara. They were resting on the couch in the common room one night, when Charlie looked over to them before looking to Percy. 

“Perc,” He said seriously. 

Percy looked up at his brother, a little startled at the serious tone. “Yes, Charlie?” 

“Look, I’m not going to be here when Lara finally gets here, which means you’ll be eldest here,” He said seriously. “And I’m pretty sure you’re going to be a Prefect your fifth year,” 

“Don’t worry,” Percy said with a smile, feeling warm his brother thought that he would be a prefect so soon, even though it was just his third year. “I’ll try to keep them in line-” 

“No,” Charlie said with a shake of his head. “That wasn’t what I was going to say. I mean, yeah, obviously, if they’re going to seriously hurt someone, you should but...look, if having the twins wrath keeps Lara, keeps Harry safe, you’re probably going to need to turn the other cheek,” 

“But...it…” Percy said, his mouth open in shock. 

“I know,” Charlie said softly. “I know you don’t like breaking rules, but in this regard...you need to. Family first, Perc. Remember that talk you, me, and Bill had?” 

“Family is everything,” Percy said with a small nod. “And brother’s do whatever it takes to keep your siblings safe,” 

“Right,” Charlie said with a nod. “And the twins are doing that too, since the Potter’s are family. Their way is just…” 

“More destructive?” Percy asked dryly. 

“Yeah,” Charlie said with a chuckle. “Look, do what you think is right with the twins, but my advice when it comes to them and Lara? Let them do what they have to, just like you would do whatever you have to to keep them, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Lara safe,” 

Percy let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair, looking at his brother for a moment before he nodded. “Alright…” He said softly. “Godric, though, can you believe what they did and she wasn’t even here,” 

“They are full of surprises,” Charlie said with a nod. “Merlin help anyone who even gives her split ends,” 

“Too bad you won’t be here for it,” Percy said with a sigh. “I could use your help,” 

“Perc, I’ll be honest with you,” Charlie said. “I’m glad I won’t be,” 

Percy let out a groan before laying his head on the table, and Charlie laughed, ruffling his younger brother’s hair. 

There was going to be some interesting letters in the future, that, he knew quite well.

Thank Merlin him and Bill were going to be far away from that shitstorm once it hit.


	7. The Consequences of Letters

_ Hey, La-La _

_ We need you to grab some things from our secret stash and send it to us. We need those extra strong dungbombs, the rattlers, and a few buzzers.  _

_ -George and  _ **_Fred_ **

That was it. That was all they wrote to her. 

Elara closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, hopefully willing for more words to appear on the page once she opened them, and of course, it still had the two sentences. 

What had happened? The twins first year, they sent her letters beyond letters, detailing her with what was going on, about school, about their friends. About all the pranks they pulled after Christmas, about classes, about the teachers. All the secrets they were going to show her, everything, enough so that she felt like she knew their friends and hadn’t even met them yet, that she  _ lived  _ their first year with them. 

Second year came, and, while they didn’t send her as many, she, in the beginning, anyway, got letters twice a week at great lengths. Then they started this prank war with some Slytherins, stating they were going to prove themselves as the true pranksters of Hogwarts. She had offered to help them out if they needed anything, a sounding board, or if they needed supplies, and they had taken her up on her offer. At first, the letters were the same, and they even told her about some of the pranks, but they quickly started getting shorter and shorter, until now it was starting to look more like a chore list. 

She had no idea what to do anymore. She wanted to help the twins, but she was tired of feeling like...just a owl service for a store. She had sent letters, asking questions, encouraging them to tell her about their day, trying to let them know what was going on with her. 

And she got nothing. 

A tear trickled down her cheek, and Elara quickly brushed it away before storing the letter in one of her desk drawers. She had tried everything she could think of...and she didn’t want to bring their parents into this. Harry knew she was upset, but she forbade him from sending them a letter, saying things will get better and that they were just busy. 

But there were two people she could turn to, maybe they could tell her what’s going on. 

She sat down at her desk, pulling out her favorite blue pen and began to write. 

If Charlie and Percy couldn’t help her...she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do anymore.

“It’s been four days,” Fred said with a huff to his twin. “And she still hasn’t delivered what we need, nor written to us to let us know if she can or not,” 

“Fred, relax,” George said. “She might just be having trouble getting out of the house without Mum seeing, or there’s a school project,” Though he was getting a little worried, himself. Lara was usually really good about sending them something within a day or two if she wasn’t going to be able to get something for them, but lately, her deliveries had been taking longer and longer to arrive. “Or maybe the owls are in use,” 

“Maybe,” Fred grumbled before hoisting himself out of bed. “Come on, let’s get breakfast. At least we know the Licentia twins won’t be able to plan something for a while because they have mock O.W.Ls. Gives us time to plan a back up, if La-La can’t deliver,” 

George hummed in agreement, following his twin downstairs, though his mind was turning back to Lara. He didn’t remember her last letter saying anything about a project, or anything like that, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. There had been a few times where they didn’t speak much and then she wrote to them explaining why she was busy. George wasn’t sure what the answer was, besides one thing he could feel in his gut.

Something was going on. 

They arrived at the Great Hall, sliding in front of their brothers, as the Great Hall was a little empty, which wasn’t a surprise, since it was Saturday. 

“You two are up early,” Charlie pointed out. 

“Planning,” Fred said simply as he started to reach for some food for his breakfast. 

“Hey, you two haven’t heard from La-La, have you?” George asked, reaching for his own breakfast. 

“...no?” Charlie said with a bewildered expression. “You know she sends any letters to us through you two,” Not that Charlie was upset about that. He and lara got along, as did Percy, but she was like a little sister to them while Fred and George were just her best friends. 

“I haven’t received anything,” Percy said with a shake of his head before a frown appeared on his features. “Everything alright?” 

“We just haven’t heard from her in several days,” Fred said with a frown. “We asked her to pick some things up for us, but...nothing,” 

“She’s normally really good at letting us know for timing and if she can do things,” George said. “But we haven’t heard a thing…” 

Charlie frowned, as did Percy. The twins were right in that regard. Elara was  _ very  _ good at letting anyone she was writing know if she was going to be late with replies, or couldn’t reply. Like George, Charlie was starting to think there was something more going on, though…

A familiar cry was heard, causing the Weasley children to look up, seeing Brownie as he flew in, carrying a letter in his beak. “Well, you might get your answer,” Charlie pointed out. 

The owl swooped down, landing on the table, and Fred spoke. “Okay, Brownie, I need to get that letter off of you,” Lara had told them that Brownie did better if you told him what you were going to do before doing it, which meant less bites.    
  
But to Fred’s surprise, Brownie snapped at him anyway.    
  
“What the hell!” Fred cried in surprise. “It’s worked before!” 

Percy was looking at the letter, noticing his and Charlie’s name written on it. “It’s worked before,” He said calmly though a new sense of worry went through him, trying to keep it off his face and voice. “Because it was addressed to you. That’s for me and Charlie,” 

“What?!” Fred cried out, looking at the handwriting. “But Elara sent it!” 

George’s gut churned and his heart clenched. He was right, there was something going on, but he wasn’t sure what. Maybe Charlie and Percy’s letter from Elara had answers. 

Charlie frowned, reaching for the letter, taking it from the bird, opening it, and he and Percy moved closer together to read the letter, though Charlie’s hand curled into a fist, as Percy’s grabbed onto the edge of the table as they noticed something on the letter.

Tear drops. Elara had been crying when she wrote this. 

_ Dear Charlie and Percy, _

_ I don’t know what to do anymore, and I don’t even...know how to start this letter. This is my fifth attempt so I guess I’ll go right out and say it. I just really...hope you guys can help me, help with this situation. I really don’t want to involve our parents, but everything I’ve tried is failing… _

_ Fred and George are ignoring me. Not in the usual way, but they aren’t speaking to me anymore. All I get from them is a list they need me to get them for their pranks, and even after so many promises of telling me what happened, I’ve yet to hear what I’ve been helping with. The first few times, I figured they were just busy, but I’ve been writing to them, telling them about my day but yet...so quickly they went from letters to lists and I just...I can’t...I don’t.  _

_ I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know. My attempts failed, and I want to help them, but I want them to talk to me. I’m not an owl store service. I’m supposed to be their best friend but now I feel like a stranger to the two people who knew me just as well as my own twin.  _

_ Please...just please help me. I’m desperate. What do I do? Do I continue sending things to them? Do I stop until they finally speak to me? What do I do?! _

_ I know you’re in your NEWTS, Charlie, and I know the teachers are getting you prepared for your OWLs, Percy, but just...please. Help me.  _

_ I hope you’re both doing well, _

_ Love,  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Elara. _

As Charlie and Percy read the letter, anger and annoyance rose in them, and against their younger brothers. They knew Fred and George had some life lessons to learn, but they never thought…

They never thought they need lessons when it came to Elara.

“Well? What’d she say?” Fred asked impatiently, though there was a small hint of worry in his voice. 

“Did she have anything to tell us?” George asked, his worry a bit more clear. 

“No,” Charlie said before Percy could answer. “She just asked me how my NEWTs were, and she hoped Percy was doing well with the professors preparing him for OWLs next year,” 

“...that’s it?” George asked with a frown.

“Yup,” Charlie said as he stood up. “Come on, Perc, we should write back to her,” 

Percy quickly stood up, nodding his head and he grabbed his bag, following his older brother out, only speaking once they were away from the twins. “Charlie, why’d you lie to them?” He asked his older brother.

“Because this is a lesson that Fred and George need to learn the hard way,” Charlie told his younger brother. 

“But...Lara is asking for our help,” Percy said. In his eyes, it would do better to tell them what was going on. 

“And she is going to get it,” Charlie said, stopping in the Courtyard and he looked to Percy. “Remember that one summer before you went to Hogwarts? We kept telling you to relax, but you kept studying and studying until you collapsed? No matter what we told you, you just kept studying until you realized that you needed rest,” 

Percy frowned but nodded. 

“This is the same thing, but the twins need to learn their own lesson,” Charlie said. “Sometimes holding someone’s hand is fine, and needed, but the twins need to learn that if they do things like this, there are consequences, that they can hurt people with a lack of words, just as much as they are aware that words hurt. As big brother’s, our job is to know when to jump in, and when to let them learn for themselves. It really sucks, Perc, trust me, but that’s part of it. It’s just hard to know when and where,” 

Charlie sighed softly. “I don’t like this, please, believe me. Especially because I know Lara is this upset. But if it starts getting worse, we'll jump in and explain the situation,"

Percy nodded slowly before sighing. "This is going to get worse before it gets better," 

"Yup," Charlie agreed with a sigh, reaching into his bag, pulling out some paper and a pen so they could reply to Lara. 

Meanwhile, back in the Great Hall, George stared at his food, moving his scrambled eggs across his plate before a thought came to him. 

"Fred, I'm a genius," he said suddenly before looking to his twin. 

"You sure about that?" Fred joked, though he looked at his twin. 

"Yeah! Cause I know why La-La hasn't written to us," George chirped.

"Oh? Why's that?" 

"Cause she never got our letter!" 

"Come again?"

"Think about it!" George said eagerly. "Remember that one time we went almost two weeks without speaking, but she sent Charlie and Percy something? It was because our letter got lost!" 

Fred dropped his fork before a bright smile came to his features. "You're right! She wrote to us asking if everything was okay and we had to tell her we sent her mail and she said she never got it! We'll just resend it! You are a genius, George!" 

"I know!" George said with a laugh, his appetite returning, and he took a large bite of his eggs, Fred doing the same. 

_ Lara, _

_ We're really sorry about what the twins are doing to you, it isn't really right or fair of them. We'll do what we can to help out, though we're gonna try and see if they can't figure this out on their own. There are some things that work better if they do.  _

_ As for you asking what to do, I wouldn't send them any more products until this gets resolved. As for sending them letters, that's up to you. Do what you think is best.  _

_ As for my NEWT year, so far so good. Percy says if he’s this busy his fourth year and this is just mock OWLs, the real thing is going to be brutal. Which...it is, by the way. You should’ve seen some of it, a lot of students ended up having nervous breakdowns.  _

_ And now I just made Percy even more nervous. Whoops.  _

_ Anyway, we’ll support you no matter what you decide. Please write to us if you need us, or you just feel like talking. You’re a sister as much as Ginny is.  _

_ Love, _

_ Charlie and  _ **_Percy._ **

  1. **_If the twins don’t understand soon, you and I will smack them with our Hogwarts: A History books. They’re thick enough to take it._**



Elara stared at the letter, though a small snort escaped her at Percy’s comment. She was pretty sure he left it like that on purpose, for her to decide if he meant the twins or the books. She appreciated it, and that was Percy’s sense of humor, when he decided to wield it. But then she sighed, setting the letter back on her desk. 

She hoped the twins figured it out soon, though she kinda wished Charlie would just go ahead and tell them what was wrong. But she guessed she saw his point…

A hoot broke her out of her thoughts, and she looked up towards her window, where a sandy blond owl sat, and she got up, offering her arm to it. Once it settled, she took the letter from its beak, recognizing the handwriting of Fred Weasley. A small glimmer of hope appeared, but she quickly stuffed it down, not wanting to get her hopes up. She walked over to the cage she kept in her room, letting the owl hop in with the other one that was resting, so it could get something to drink or eat if it wanted. Then she went back towards her desk, taking a seat, moving Charlie and Percy’s letter to her desk drawer before she stared more at Fred’s letter for several minutes before she finally opened it. 

She just stared blankly at the words before anger started to bubble up in her. They had written more, but it was just the same. Assuming the letter was lost, telling her what they needed, and that was it. 

That. Was. It. 

She stood up abruptly, her chair falling over with a thud, and an enraged shriek escaped her, and she stomped over to her bed, smacking her pillow. “Those thick headed,” She cried out, her hands turning to fists as she continued to pumble her pillow. “Jerk face, dunder headed gits!” 

“Uh…” 

Elara turned around, and Harry held up his hands in surrender. “Heard your kaboom and wanted to see if I’m beating someone up, or if we need to call Uncle Sirius about buying some bodies,” 

“No!” She cried out. “But if those gits are going to ignore me, I’m going to ignore them too! If they’re going to treat me like a damn owl service, they better start paying me! I’m done!” 

“Right!” Harry said with a firm nod. He was assuming this had to do with the twins, and he agreed with the plan whole heartedly! Ellie’s tried to get them to talk and she tried to tell them, but they weren’t listening. Though…

“Uh, did you maybe try Charlie though?” He really didn’t want their friendship to really break. 

“Yes!” Elara said harshly. “They said they’d do what they can to help, but they’re hoping for the twins to see it first. Something about them learning their own lesson,” 

“Ohh...kinda like Percy and his pushing himself?” Harry asked, and Elara nodded. “Well, I’m sure everything will work out okay, Ellie. If Charlie’s aware of it, I’m sure he’ll help fix it if it starts looking like too much or they won’t,” 

“I sure hope so, Harry,” She said with a sigh, some of her anger deflating, and she sat down on her bed, Harry joining her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “I really hope so,” 

“Well, in the good news, Mum didn’t hear your outburst so you don’t need to worry about them finding out just yet,” Harry pointed out. “Though you know you can’t keep this a secret long,” 

“I know,” Elara sighed. They were used to hearing about what was going on at Hogwarts through her because of the twins, and the moment she didn’t have things to tell, they’d be on her quickly. Maybe she’d get lucky and at the end of a week, Fred and George will realize what happened and apologize. 

“A bloody month!” Fred said, his voice raised. “She hasn’t written to us in a bloody month! She could  _ at least  _ tell us she doesn’t or can’t help us anymore!”    
  
Charlie sighed softly as they walked down the hallways. He couldn’t believe how thick his little brothers were being, honestly, but he was surprised at Elara’s stubbornness as well, and how she wasn’t breaking her silence. It must’ve been really hard for her. 

“Yeah! We know she’s alive because she writes to you and Percy, but come on!” George complained loudly with a huff. 

“Have you two written to her about it?” Charlie asked, knowing the answer to this question already. 

“We’ve sent her some things, but not anymore!” Fred said fiercely. “If she wants the silent treatment, we’ll give it right back!” 

Charlie bit back a groan. This wasn’t exactly how he wanted it to go, but he figured if they hadn’t made up by Christmas, that’s when he’d step in...and hopefully Percy won’t really hit them with a book. “What do you mean by some things?” He asked instead. 

“The usual,” George said with a grunt. 

Judging by Elara’s letters, that meant just them listing things and now most of those letters were them getting irritated at her about not getting them. Charlie fought the urge to facepalm. “Have you guys tried maybe going about it a different way?” 

“No, and we don’t care anymore,” Fred said with a firm nod. “She can write to us first!” 

“Yeah!” George said. “We tried and she stopped talking to us first. This is on her now,” 

This time, Charlie didn’t resist the urge, his hand coming up to lightly smack against his forehead, rubbing it, starting to feel a headache coming on. They really didn’t see that it was their fault to begin with...this was going to be difficult. 

“You okay, Charlie?” Fred said, looking up at his brother with a frown. 

“Fine,” Charlie said with a sigh, lowering his hand. “Just a headache,” He looked around, sighing softly in relief. “You two better get to class. I need to wait for some friends here,” 

“We’re going, we’re going,” George muttered. “Least we got Quidditch practice today to help get some of this anger out,” 

“True that,” Fred said with a nod, turning left at the corridor, his twin next to them, continuing to vent about their best friend. 

“So that’s why they haven’t really done anything to us lately,” A voice said and Charlie turned to see the Licentia twins coming down the corridor behind them. 

“And why they didn’t even notice we were right behind them,” Cari said with a tilt of her head. “They’re having girl problems,” 

“Eh, not exactly,” Charlie said with a sigh. “I mean, yes, she’s a girl, but…” 

“We heard some of it,” Tia said. “Something about her ignoring them?”

“There’s a lot more to it than that,” Charlie said. 

“Want a sounding board or two?” Cari offered. “If it’s the same girl they went bananas over their first year,”    
  
“Lara Potter, right?” Tia asked and Charlie nodded. 

“Then it must be driving them pretty bonkers,” Cari said.

Charlie hesitated for a moment, mostly because he wasn’t sure about spilling some of Elara’s secrets but...maybe they did have a better idea on how to make Fred and George see they were doing something wrong besides out right telling them. Plus, for Slytherins, the girls were pretty nice. They stood up for kids no matter what house they were in, never really picked on anyone. From what he knew, almost everyone liked them or respected them. 

With that in mind, he quickly explained the situation, and the girls raised a brow at some parts, but didn’t say anything until they were caught up. 

“Wow,” Cari said with a shake of her head. “For two kids that are pretty smart and clever, that’s…” 

“Pretty rude and stupid,” Tia said with a sigh. 

“Any ideas? I keep trying to hint at writing her, and they do, but from Lara told me, it’s pretty much the same thing, though now they’re just getting irritated,” Charlie asked. 

“Hrm...it’s too bad there isn’t a way for you to get them to re-read some of her old letters,” Cari said, her finger tapping her chin in thought. “If she kept hinting she wants them to write more, that might make them realize what they did wrong,” 

“Yeah, but that’s a little difficult without dropping a major hint bomb on them,” Tia pointed out. “I do agree with Charlie, they need to learn the Communication lesson sooner rather than later,” 

“No, no, I agree,” Cari said with a nod. “Plus, my idea isn’t guaranteed to work anyway, since they already read it once. They probably would just skim it again, though…” 

“Yeah, possibility with them actively searching for something, they’d see it this time around,” Tia hummed thoughtfully. “What we need is enough subtle hints for them to start mulling it around in their own head, besides what Charlie has been dropping,” 

“Though, with how angry they are, they’re gonna need to be a little difficult,” Cari nodded. 

Charlie just watched in silent fascination as the two bounced between each other, back and forth, seeing how the grasped the situation quite quickly, and how they knew his brothers so well. “Yeah, we’re all a little stubborn in the family,” He said, wanting to help contribute somehow. 

The twins stopped for a moment, studying Charlie for a moment, who blinked, before they turned to each other. 

“Could work,” Tia said. 

“Could? Would, you mean. You know he’s amazing at things like this,” Cari said. 

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked, though the twins in front of him ignored him.

“He’s got that gift,” Tia nodded. “And he knows the Weasley twins, and they’re sorta friends. Might be willing to listen more,” 

“Uh…” Charlie said before the twins looked at hm.

“Come with us,” They said before grabbing Charlie’s arms, and began to steer him away from the corridor, Charlie willingly walking with them. If he really didn’t want to, they wouldn’t have stood a chance with dragging him. But he had to admit, he was curious about all this. 

“Where are we going?” Charlie asked. 

“The Library,” The twins said together. 

Once they arrived, the twins stopped, their eyes scanning over the tables until they found who they were looking for, a dark brown haired Slytherin boy sitting at a table surrounded by books, and they dragged Charlie over, sitting down in the chairs next to him, motioning for Charlie to sit down in front of him.

“Vale!” They cooed softly, pressing their cheeks to his. “There you are, brother dearest!” 

“Terror, Trouble,” Vale said with a grin. “What are you two up to this time?”

“Terror and Trouble?” Charlie asked with a raised brow, and Vale turned his baby blue eyes to him. 

“Tis the nickname I gave them when I was younger,” Vale grinned. “Fits them, doesn’t it?” 

“...it actually does,” Charlie said with a chuckle. 

“Hey!” The twins said in a hushed whisper. 

“Besides, why do you think we’re up to something?” Tia said. “Can’t you just trust that we wanted to see our brother?” 

“You called me brother dearest,” Vale said holding up one finger. “You brought not just any seventh year Gryffindor, but the Weasley twins older brother,” He held up his second finger and then a third. “And then you two got your sneaky smirky smiles going on. Whatcha need?”

Charlie let out a soft laugh as the twins pouted, sticking their tongues out at their little brother. “How do you feel about making a new friend, and bring a friendship back together?” Tia asked with a grin. 

Vale placed his bookmark in his book, shutting it. “When do I not like making a new friend, and helping people out? Fill me in,” 

“...not even going to ask for anymore information?” Charlie asked with a raised brow. He heard a little about Vale from his twins, and they said he was really good people. From what he heard from Percy, Vale was incredibly smart, and was one of the top students in his year, though were was another boy in Slytherin ahead of him. Like his sisters, most people really liked him or respected him, because of his refusal to play like a good handful of Slytherins, and never judged you based on your House. 

“Pretty sure you’ll give it to me either way,” Vale said with a shrug. “Plus, my sisters wouldn’t drag me into something that went against my moral compass,  _ and  _ they wouldn’t ask if they thought I couldn’t help. So, again, what’s up?” 

Charlie blinked before launching into the tale once more, and Vale frowned towards the end, leaning back in his chair. “Well, that’s...certainly something. Though, I gotta ask, has she outright told them what’s bothering her?” 

“She’s tried,” Charlie said. “I don’t know if she outright said everything is, but from what she told me, she did say something along the lines of that she’d like to know what’s going on with the pranks, since they hadn’t told her,” 

“Mmm…” Vale hummed thoughtfully. “I know it’s easier said than done, but she really should just say outright that it’s bothering her,” 

“That’s probably out of the cards now,” Charlie said with a sigh. “All three of them can be too stubborn, and to be fair, I’m more on Lara’s side. Even if she didn’t outright say it, she implied as best she could while trying to still be supportive,” 

“Nah, I feel ya there,” Vale said. “But all three of them are now guilty for this situation,” Vale then drummed his fingers against the table. “Ah, learning the lesson of communication can be a hard one. But yeah, I can see you two’s plan right now. I’m in, though I’m also doing this cause I know what it’s like to lose your friends. Give me till dinner, I’ll give you my letter to her then,” 

“Sounds good,” Charlie said with a nod. It was best for Vale to go through him, since Lara would probably be wary of someone randomly writing to her without getting told she knew them through friends. Hell, she still might find it a bit strange, so maybe he should write a letter explaining the situation as well. 

But he was curious as to how this would go...would Vale really be able to get Lara to write to him? He seemed nice enough, very chatty...but…

“Uh...so what exactly is the plan?” Charlie asked. 

The three siblings looked at him, blinking. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tia asked.    
  
“Vale writes to Lara, the twins get jealous, and Vale starts dropping hints!” Cari chirped. 

"And since they know her and Vale don't really know each other, they'll start pestering Vale about why she's writing to them," Tia grinned.

"Or best case scenario, they start writing to her asking what's up," Vale said. "Though I'm sorta doubting this possibility, but there's a small chance," 

"Speaking of…" Charlie said as he glanced to Vale. "Why are you doing this? Is it because she's Lara Potter?"

Suddenly the atmosphere changed and Charlie was only a little regretful he asked. Lara was a little sister to him, so it was his job to protect her, but by the glares he was getting from the siblings in front of him…

"Excuse you?!" The twins hissed, and Vale put his hands on their arms for a moment before he stood up, his hands flat on the table, and he leaned forward, and Charlie didn't flinch as the young Slytherin got close to him.

"Listen here, Charlie," Vale hissed. "She could be Merlin, and I still wouldn't give a flying frick about it. I'm doing this because I've been in that situation where for some stupid reason your friends aren't talking to you, and you have no idea why. I'm doing this because I know the feeling of sitting there in your room wondering what the hell went wrong, and you start to worry about what you did, even if it isn't your fault. 

"I'm doing this because  _ it's the right thing to do _ . I'm not going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs when there's something I can do to help. That's not my style, never has been, never will be. Got it?" 

Charlie just nodded his head, respect for the second year Slytherin starting to form, even more so than he had before. He could see why so many people liked him now, if he was always this straightforward and honest, though now he wondered why he was in Slytherin. 

"Vale? Tia? Cari? Is everything alright?" 

Charlie turned his head to see another second year Slytherin, with dark blond hair standing there, glasses perched on his features, holding a book. 

"Yeah, Sal," Vale said as he moved backwards, beginning to grab his books, putting them in his bag. "Everything's fine. Just done with the Library," 

"I see…" Sal said, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Charlie, who actually fought back a flinch. He hadn’t heard much about Sal besides that he was the top student in his year, and wicked sharp. The only other thing he heard was that while he seemed cold, he was actually pretty kind. Apparently he had a bad side though, concerning his friends if someone hurt them. 

And he would never tell his twins that a second year made him almost flinch with just a stare. That had been intense. 

“Do you need me to check out any books for you, Vale?” Sal asked softly. 

Vale nodded his head, and he slid two books over to Sal, who took them and placed them on a small pile before heading over to Madam Pince. Vale then stood up, looking to his sisters. “See you by the entrance,” and he turned and left. 

“You better feel lucky that we understand why you were asking, Charlie,” Tia said, her eyes narrowed into a glare.

“We don’t take kindly to people who insult our little brother,” Cari hissed. 

“Especially when they think he is going to use people,” They growled together. 

“Even more especially when he’s going out of his way to help someone without even thinking of asking for anything in return,” Cari spat out, turning on her heel, following her brother, and Tia did the same. 

Charlie sighed, realizing he did accidentally insult some people who offered to help, without even asking for anything in return. If he had known what would’ve happened, he would’ve thought of a different way to ask. 

...and then a thought crept through his mind. What if they decided to not help anymore? What if Vale changed his mind. He really hoped not...their plan was an interesting one, and it could work. He guessed he would find out at dinner tonight. 

He glanced down at his watch, noting the time. His friends were probably wondering where he went off too, but he had class shortly. Best to get going, then find Percy to let him know what was going on, and then to Quidditch practice...which was going to be a long one if the twins were still moaning and complaining about Lara. 

  
  


Charlie was sitting at the Gryffindor table at dinner that night, though he kept scanning the Slytherin table, trying to spot Vale, or even one of the Licentia twins. He still was unsure if they were going to help, and if Charlie had to apologize, he would. Actually, he probably would anyway for letting his question come out wrong, but still. 

He spotted the Licentia twins, and even Sal, but he didn’t spot Vale, and he frowned slightly. He watched the red headed female twins, hoping to catch their eye to ask them about their brother, when a voice appeared next to him.

“You know they’re taken, right?” 

Charlie, Fred, George, Percy and a few fellow GRyffindors jumped at the sudden voice, turning to spot a smirking Vale. 

“Vale!” The Weasley twins exclaimed. 

“How’d you sneak up on us?” Fred asked. 

“Tis a gift,” Vale said with a shrug. 

“Who’s taken?” George asked. 

“My sisters,” Vale grinned. “Your brother, Charlie, here was staring,” 

“Wait, your sisters are taken?!” The Weasley twins asked, their mouths wide. They hadn’t known that!

“Yup,” Vale said, pointing over to Corvus and Zeph, who were sitting next to the twins in question at the Slytherin table. “To those two,” 

“...how did we not know that?” Fred and George said together, shaking their heads.

“Because you two have been wearing blinders here lately with this prank war against my sisters,” Vale said to the two. “If I were you, you might wanna have one of you take them off before you ruin something or get so blinded that you don’t notice the flashing signs going “Stop! Danger! Turn back!” Unless, you know, you like being miserable, then go off, I guess,” and then he shrugged. 

Charlie and Percy blinked. That had...been one way to get the twins attention, and Vale was right. Charlie doubted that would be enough to fix the situation, but it might start making them think more. 

George frowned at that assessment; they hadn’t been that bad. 

“Oi! We aren’t that bad!” Fred said with a frown. 

“Oh, really?” Vale said with a raised brow. “You two got a detention because you were so busy setting up a prank that you didn’t realize Mrs. Norris had been sitting next to you while you did,” 

“Hey!” George exclaimed. “In our defense, there’s a Ravenclaw girl that has a cat that looks like her!” 

“...her fur is the opposite of Mrs. Norris’s,” Vale pointed out. 

“ _ That’s  _ how you two got caught?!” Charlie said with a bark of laughter. “Good job!” 

“Shut up!” The twins muttered, the tips of their ears turning red. Maybe Vale had a point…they’d discuss when they were alone in their dorm together. 

“Anyway,” Vale said, reaching into his pocket, handing Charlie an envelope. “Here you go,” 

Charlie took it from Vale, giving him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Vale. And sorry for-”    
  
Vale waved him off. “Apology accepted, forgiven, water under the bridge,” 

“Wait, what happened?” George asked, looking curiously at the envelope. 

“What’d you do to Vale?” Fred asked, eyeing the Slytherin. Vale was pretty easy-going and it took a lot to really insult him. 

Charlie blinked, opening his mouth, unsure what to say when Vale jumped in. “Just a misunderstanding,” He said with a shrug. “You know I get irritated when people assume that asking me for help means selling their soul, or something. Your brother didn’t mean it like that, it came out wrong, and I snapped a little. So, sorry about that,” 

“Nah, it’s my bad,” Charlie said with a shake of his head. “I know you aren’t like that. And thanks again for this,” 

“Anytime,” Vale said with a playful salute. “Here’s hoping it helps,” 

“I’m sure it will, even just a little bit,” Charlie said, sliding it into his own robe pocket. 

“What’s going on?” The twins asked, looking between Vale and Charlie with inquisitive looks. 

“None of your business,” Charlie said before turning back to his plate. He wasn’t sure he could come up with a good cover story for this, nor Vale. Maybe if he was a few years younger…

“Oh, come on, Charlie, we might as well tell them,” Vale said with a grin, and Charlie and Percy’s eyes widened. This wasn’t part of the plan. “It’s super duper secret plans to get into Ministry. See, we’re gonna cause a riot and demand for Charlie here to become the Minister of Magic and then...when his victory is secured...we...RELEASE THE DRAGONS!” 

The twins stared at Vale for a moment before they busted out laughing. 

“We’re in!” Fred laughed. 

“Though why does Charlie get to be the Minister?” George asked with a grin. “Me and Fred would be perfect!” 

“Because he’s gotta have some people in charge of the departments, of course,” Vale chirped. “Percy is his second in command, though,” 

“True,” Fred hummed. “The Department of Mysterious would be interesting…” 

“I’d like to remind you two if you do that, you become Unspeakables,” Vale pointed out. 

Fred and George made a face. “Yeah, that’s out,” they said together. 

“Thought so,” Vale said with a laugh. “Scoot over, let’s try to think of who should go where,” 

The twins did so, Vale sitting down between them, making a plate, and the three second years, along with Lee Jordan, started talking about who should be in what in the Ministry. Charlie let out a chuckle, looking to Percy. “If we ever need someone who can think on their feet, he’s our guy,” 

“Indeed,” Percy said with a smile. “He’s distracting Fred and George very well,” 

“...you’re just proud he made you my second in command in this, aren’t you?” Charlie grinned at Percy, who’s ears turned pink. 

“No!” Percy said quickly before glancing at his brother, mumbling. “Yes…” 

Charlie let out a laugh, ruffling one of his younger brother’s hair. “Don’t worry, Perc.There’s no one else I’d rather have,” 

Percy smiled at his older brother, playfully swatting at him and fixed his hair before going back to his meal, and Charlie glanced back over to his brothers. Hopefully the Licentia twins and Vale’s idea would work…

Later that night, as Fred and George tucked themselves into bed, sleep slowly starting to claim them, Fred sat up. “George!” 

“What?” George asked sleepily. 

“Hey! We’re trying to sleep here!” One of their roommates said. 

“We were played!” Fred said, ignoring him. “We still don’t know what was in that envelope Vale gave Charlie!” 

George was silent for a few moments before a slow clap was heard. “Well played, Vale. Well played. We’ll-”

“Just fall to sleep and discuss this in the morning!” Lee called. “Go to bed!” 

With a small grumble, the twins settled back into their bed, closing their eyes, determined to figure out what it was their sneaky friend had given their brother. 

  
  


Elara took a small bite of bacon one morning, just staring at her plate. A month and a half...that’s the longest she has ever gone without talking to Fred and George, and it seemed they finally gave up as well. She didn’t think that was a good thing, but she would be lying if she said she wasn’t relieved about the fact her hopes were never up anymore when she saw their letters. Every single time, without fail, she had hoped they would apologize to her, tell her they understood now, but no. Every letter before the final one was them getting more and more cross at her and a list. 

“Sweetheart,” James asked softly, hating how his daughter was so down. He hated she was having a row with the Weasley twins, her best friends. He never thought he’d see the day for something this serious but… “Are you sure you don’t want us to talk to Molly or Arthur?” 

Elara feverishly shook her head. “No. You know Molly will just yell at them, and then it’ll be like tattling, and...that won’t make it better. Maybe some distance is good, anyway...besides, Christmas is coming up soon, isn’t it? We can talk and get things settled then…” 

Hopefully, the girl added to herself silently. 

James frowned before he sighed. “Okay...how about a deal,” he offered instead. “If they’re about to leave for Hogwarts, and things still aren’t okay, we all sit down for a talk. You all need to get this settled,” 

Though James was scared for his daughter’s sake that this was the end of such a wonderful friendship. He would fight tooth and nail, if he could, before that happened. 

“Yeah…” Elara said sadly. “That’s fair…” 

Harry reached over to his sister, taking her free hand, linking his fingers together with hers. “It’ll be okay, Ellie. I know it will be,” 

Or it better be, or else Fred and George were answering to him. He had been going into Ellie’s room far too many times to hold her as she cried, clutching the spelled star they had given her to her chest, listening to them tell her they loved her. If their parents talk didn’t help, Harry would go straight to the twins himself, and he didn’t care how many low blows he dealt, he would do it. 

Actually, he might go to them first, but still. 

James looked up from the table as he heard a small tapping sound, seeing a black owl at the window, and he stood up, making his way over. He opened it, and the black owl flew in, heading straight towards Elara dropping two letters in front of her with a small hoot. Elara blinked, spotting Charlie’s handwriting on one, but...a different one on the second. 

She reached for Charlie’s, seeing that it said read me first, and she opened it. 

_ Lara, _

_ The second envelope is from a guy at school, a second year. While I don’t know him, personally, given the age difference, I know his sisters, and the twins know him. He’s a good guy, and I think you two will become fast friends. Honestly, he sorta knows the situation with Fred and George, and he offered to write to you, because he’s been in the same situation, and to help, and as he put it.  _

_ “It frickin sucks”  _

_ It’s up to you to write to him or not, and before you start getting worried about him also only writing to you because of who you are, he isn’t. Got right up in my face when I asked that, and I quote.  _

_ “I don’t care if she’s Merlin, I’d still do the same thing. I’ve been in her position, it sucks, and I’m not going to stand here, twiddling my thumbs, when there is something I can do to help. That’s not my style, never has been, never will,”  _

_ He said more than that, but those were the important parts.  _

_ Love,  _

_ Charlie. _

Elara blinked before closing up Charlie’s letter, reaching for the other one, a little nervous. Fred and George last year told her about so many people who kept asking about her and Harry, just because they found out they were friends. But Charlie would never introduce her to a person like that, she was sure. And he had said this guy was different...plus, he didn’t know her actual address, so even if she sent something back, he would need to go through the Weasley’s anyway. 

Her curiosity was eating at her, and she opened the letter. 

_ Dear Lara! (I can call you Lara, right? Most of the Weasley’s do, but if you’d rather me call you Elara until we become friends, we can totally do that. Heck, I’ll call you Miss Potter if that makes you feel more comfortable!) _

_ My name is Vale Licentia! I’m currently thirteen, I’m in my second year of Hogwarts, I’m in Slytherin (PLEASE DON’T STOP READING! GIVE ME A CHANCE, I BEG OF THEE!), and my zodiac is a- _

_ Wait, this is starting to sound too much like a diary entry rather than a letter. Let’s try this again.  _

_ Hi Lara or Elara or Miss Potter! _

_ I’m Vale! It’s nice to...write to you! I was about to put meet you but...uh...we can see how that’s problematic.  _

_ Look, I’m going to be extremely blunt and honest, I’m writing to you for a number of reasons. The first one is because I know what the Weasley twins are doing thanks to my twins (my older sisters are twins, and the two that Fred and George are trying to prank.). It’s really wrong and crappy of them to do that to you, and now ignoring you on top of it? I’ve been there and it really, really, really sucks. So I am so sorry you’re having to go through that. So I just want to let you know, you have someone here to vent to and who understands.  _

_ The second one is...well, me and my sisters are now involved in making the Weasley twins see what they’re doing and learning what my Ma says is… The Lessons of Communication. It’s a hard one, and to be honest, sometimes even adults don’t learn it until later. But we’re gonna make sure it takes to the Weasley’s.  _

_ My third and most important reason...is, well, I hope we can become friends! I know that’s kinda a bold statement to say, since you don’t know me, and I only know some things about you (some of which I know from the Weasley twins, but I don’t think they know that. They can be a bit...oblivious to what’s around them. And I mean that nicely, as one can,).  _

_ All I ask is a few letters to see if we can be! If we don’t, then, that’s fine! At least we can say we tried, right? Or I can just be a book buddy! I love reading, and we can share book topics, favorite series, squeal about our favorites or what’s going on, and that’s cool too.  _

_ Or you can just tell me to buzz off and, ya know what? Buzz buzz! Off I go!  _

_ Now, in case you are intrigued, and for a good conversation starter in case you wanna write, we’ll start with a book.  _

_ What’s your favorite book right now? You know, the one that even if you read it a week ago, you can pick up again and re-read it as if you never had? Or! Have you read any of the books than were made into Disney movies? I’d love to hear that answer, cause, man, are they different! Or! What’s a book you’ve picked up and pushed yourself to read it even though it was a “NOPE!”? That you really only read it out of pure spite because you made it this far, and by golly, you’ll finish it! _

_ I hope this letter finds you well! I hope to hear from you soon! _

_ From, _

_ Vale.  _

Elara read the letter, giggling at moments of it, and she beamed at her dad and brother. She wished her mother and uncle were here, but they were off shopping and letting Sirius practice his driving, and she all but ran to her room to write a reply. 

Maybe something good could come from this. And making new friends was always fun. 

  
  


"I keep telling you," Vale said with a dramatic sigh. "Your mum is in charge of the Auror department," 

"But why!?" George asked. "We wanna be it!"

"And mum isnt a duelist!" Fred said firmly.

"Neither are you two," Vale pointed out. "Besides, she's raising you two, and from what you told me, she can be fierce when she wants to be,"

"Hey!" The twins protested. "What's that supposed to mean about us?!" 

"Actually," Charlie said to his twin brothers, though he was a little surprised at how distracted the twins got with this conversation, and the fact they never realized it until after, since it was obvious they've been trying to find out what was in the envelope Vale gave him. "Dad said Mum used to duel and was really good, but she stopped when was pregnant with Bill,"

The twins exchanged a look and Charlie could tell they weren't really buying it. He made a mental note to have Mum see if there were some stories she could tell the twins, if she wanted. There were some he knew that they wouldn't touch because of the first Wizarding War.

"Anyway," Fred said as he looked to Vale. "We need something to do!" 

"Why don't you guys be in charge of wizarding sports or something?" Vale offered. "You two are mad about Quidditch and this means you can help with the World Cup when it happens," 

"...that's actually perfect!" George said with a laugh. “Think of the tickets we could get for everyone!” 

“And the teams we could meet!” Fred chirped. “That’d be awesome!” 

The group was talking so animatedly about their storm the Ministry idea, that they didn’t hear an owl cry out as it flew closer to the group, only paying attention once it landed on the table, and they blinked. The twins felt a small glimmer of hope grow in them as they saw Cream and the letter in their beak, especially since she landed in front of them. But their hopes were crushed, and replaced with annoyance and confusion, when Cream turned to Vale, who raised a brow in slight surprise. That had been a quick response, but that was a good thing. 

“Thank ya,” Vale said to the bird, taking the letter. 

“Why the hell is Lara writing you?” Fred asked, a bit of anger in his tone. “You two don’t even know each other,” 

Vale didn’t respond to Fred, which made the red-head even angry, as he opened the letter, and began to read it. George felt his own blood beginning to boil as he watched Vale, the small smirks he had, the soft chuckles, and even a full blown laugh he gave. The twins wanted to know what was in that letter, what was going on in their Lara’s head. Find some sort of hint on why she was ignoring them so much. 

“Gotta say,” Vale grinned as he folded up the letter, sliding it into his pocket. “Lara’s got some cheek, though I suppose she has to be, being you two’s best friend,”

“How did you get Lara’s address?” George demanded to know. They may have been upset and angry at their friend, but they still wanted to protect her or make sure she was safe, even if it was Vale and they knew she was. 

“I still don’t have it,” Vale said with a shrug. “Your brother is playing owl for me,” he hadn’t honestly expected Lara to give him his address willy nilly, not until they had established some sort of connection or friendship. He didn’t blame her, he would do the same. 

The twins looked to their brothers, a mix of betrayal and anger on their features. “What?! Why would you do that?!” 

Charlie opened his mouth to answer, when Vale beat him to it.

“What? She can’t make any new friends?” 

The twins turned to Vale, frowning. “We never said-” Fred said.

“Just because you don’t say something doesn’t mean you don’t say it anyway,” Vale said with a raised brow. “You’d be surprised at how the lack of words can be just as telling as speaking them,” 

The twins frowned at Vale, unsure what he was implying. “It’s not that,” George started to say. “We just want…” 

“To keep Lara all to yourselves?” Vale asked. “Don’t want her to make any new friends who can help her out more than you?”   
  
“No!”Fred cried out, his voice rising a little over the sea of voices of the Great Hall. 

“We would never!” George also cried out, his anger growing at even the implication. 

“Then, pray tell,” Vale asked. “Why are you two so angry at me getting a letter from her?”

The twins fell silent, though their faces were still red with anger as they stared at their friend in front of them. 

“Because.because…” George fumbled out. Why were they so angry? They had been looking forward to Lara meeting their friends from school, hoping they liked them just as much as they did. They never got upset when Lara added a few things to Lee, or when she wrote to Charlie or Percy. 

“It isn’t right of you to do that without telling us!” Fred said weakly. 

“Yeah! We’re her best friends!” George said with a nod. 

“Are you, now?” Vale said cryptically, standing up, reaching for the letter in his pocket, gently tapping the Weasley twins on top of their head with it, before placing it back. “If I were you two...I’d do some serious thinking on this. Because that was a weak excuse for why you were so angry that you were about to blow up on someone over a piece of paper,” 

With that, he gave the twins a salute before making his way over to the Slytherin table instead, taking a seat next to his sisters, while Fred and George stared. 

Fred finally snapped, slamming his hands to the table, drawing attention around them before standing up, quickly making his way out of the Hall, George following quickly behind him. George wasn’t sure what they were so angry about...Vale had made some points. 

But he did know that he and his brother did need to figure it out, sooner, rather than later.


End file.
